b b b ES BEH E CHS OPENGS T MDLE GAM IN CHESS BSIC CHSS ENINGS ESSONS FROM MY GAM A PASSION FOR CHSS PRCA ESS OPENNGS CHESS E ESY WY THE NAGE N AGE CSS OOK G�T MOMENTS IN MODN CSS E WORD'S GREA GAM OF CSS CHESS MRCS ON DR. LASKER•S LASKER•S CHESS CREER WIH FRED FR ED REINFELD REINFEL D ) H CSS KEY WI DR M EUWE ) THE PSYCHOLOGY OF E CHESS PY MDERN CHESS OPENGS, f EDTION TH EKNE-EUE MH FOR THE ORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CHESS ESSNS FROM MODERN MSTER PY MSTDM OURNMENT OOK E RESHEVSYKSAN MCH T FISCHERPEROS FISCHER PEROSIN IN MH THE ORLDS CHSSOD
(
BOBBY FISCHER'S CONQUEST OF H
WOLDS CESS CHAMPIONSIP The Psychology Psycho logy nd nd Tctics of the Title Mtch
REUE FIE hD Interntionl Cess Chmpion
DVI DVID D McKY cKY COM COMPNY PNY IN I NC NE
YO
Tab/ o ontent ontent
Prefe Prt I
THE E THE ETT APER Hoy of he Wol Cpohp AR 2 he Pelnay Skhes 3 Bobby che-Aean olk Heo 4 Bos SpskyThe ExChampon Psychology of Chess 5 he Psychology
Prt II
THE TCH Revew f he Mach A 6 Revew
Prt
III THE E E Bo bbys an as as? ?)) Bl B lue GA Bob Nongae GAME 2 The Nongae GA 3 A Bob Expes Th Te as an Eaoy Move ssky Mses Mses a Wn GAME 4 Sssky GAME 5 Spskys Blunes GA 6 . Is Bos ounov? GA 7 A Bale Royal GA 8 Anohe Spssky Blune GAME 9 T Pae Tha n' Reesh GAME 0 Pav Paes Bob B obbys bys Ingenu Ingenuy y GA Bobb Bo bbyy Becoe a Moal Agan Agan GAME 2 Bobb Bo bbyy Pys I Cauous Cauous GA 3 A he he Haly Mak GAME 4. On Playng fo a aw aw Pepae Vaa Vaao o GAME 5 Pepae
3 1 22 4
9 1 119 121 129 138 14 153
12 1 12 183 190 198 21 224
able f Cntents A uiet n the th e Fische Fische Fn Fn Whs Cay N? w w ea Fes a P f W an a SeeSa Se eSa raw hings t C GAME 19 he Spe f hings GAME he Seventh aw GAME 21 an i
GAME 6. GAME 1 GAME 18
23 24 2 2 28 28
Part!
THE PLAES AND THE SETTING
CHTER
itor the World ha pion hip
.A H u G H the game of chess has been traced back far
the sixth cenury A.D, he idea of an oca chess champon of the world scarcey more than a centuy old In 1843 he Englsh man Howard Saunto ( 18101874) deeated e Frenman St Aman as a result o which he was considered the songest player around But ere was so lile serious competiion among the top payers hat no one could realy prove anying In addtion to his over-theboard strengh Saunon wi his Hand book of Chess remained e leading auoriy on e game fo almos fy years The rs large-scale inteaona oament eve held was a London 85 connecon with the iternaional exhibition a he Crystal Palace It was won by Adolf Anderssen ( 1818879) a Geman athemacs eaer, ahead o Staunon and virualy all the kown champons o ha day On e basis o this icory Andessen was hen cosidered by many to be e bes Aderssen was badly beaen by he yong Aercan gens Pal Morphy ( 837884 ) in 858 who was aso os eager to play Staunon Howeer e Englshman sdestepped him e rst of several such ncidents he hsory o he world itle Unornaely Morphy wdrew ro chess afer lte more an a year neer again playng seriousy. n his later yeas he 3
The Pyer a Seng
became mentay ill He has been called e pride and the sorrow of chess" With Whem Steinitz 18-19 the real era of mode ess begins Morphy uld sl gve some of hs strongest oppo nets Paw nd move, something that has been uterly impossi ble since Steinitz iniated mode epoch of internatonal touents and set matches with clocks which were inoduced in 1870 As a consequence the number of iteational mastes increased enormousy, several important tournaments were held every year a consderable ess literature deeoped, and chess uly became an international sport In 18 Steit defeated Andersse in a set match, whi gave hm e rght to call himself world champion; he was actu ly the st to use e tie If is date take as e tue benning of the world championship series the champions have been: Stenit 18-18 Lasker 1891921 Capablanca, 19211927 Alekhne 1927-135 and 1937-19 Eue 1935-1937 interregnum period 1-18 wth Fe and Keres ocial cadidates or cochampions Bovinnik 19481957 Smyslov, 957 1958 Botvnnik, 1958-190 Ta 10-191 Botvinnk 1113 Posian 1939 Spassky 199-1972 and now Fischer 1972-? Much confuson has bee generated about the history of the world championship especially in e period 1938-1948 when world tensions pevented normal competon Inasmuch as Kers and I ted for rst prie in e ARO touament of 1938 which was ocally designated as the tournament for the selection of e alenge hen Aekhne died n 19 localy a match should have been arranged beee Fie and Keres to decide e tte This as never done for a vaiety of reasons mai politial The tounamet arranged n 197 was called o by the Russians as par of a kind of blackmai sheme to force the play es to compete in Russia My own refusa to play in 198 was motivated in par by the unce1ainty about heer e Russians
Hsory of the Word hphp
5
wold e o he playng hal a al and so nder wha ondons In he lgh o s hora rerd sees o e only a a Keres and Fne shold be sed as ohapons or the perod 946-948 an be seen a pror o Fsher he word haponshp or os o ene was donaed by ve en o sperave gens: enz Lasker Capablana Alekhne and Bovnnk whle ohers in spe o her grea sreng dd no see o qe ah ese hapons Moe deals o he sores o ese en are o neres enz was n ore an one sense e nder o odern hess Born n wha was en Bohea he egraed o Engand a a ary early age where he spen he ajor par o hs le A sperb gher he wen o o hs way o hallenge any opponen who seeed apable o png p a good bale n se aes he deeaed every one o e greas o hs day anann hs spreay hs deea by Lasker n 894 n addon o an ave areer a payer enz eded a joal he Intetion hess Mgze whh was otsand ng o e qalty o e anoaons os o whh were pro vded by enz hsel Hs eaordnary oand o e Englsh langage, whh was no hs nave onge rends one o e oshbo novels Conrad evera books also ae ro hs pen, o whh one Th Mode hess Itor, reaned a sandard ex or a long e replang ann's work ror o enz e prnpes o he gae were poorly nder sood Openngs were splayed obnaon overlooked pos onal sraegy had no ondao ha was hanged by hi Ever sne, e sold bass o hess saegy has never really hanged o the parlar lnes hosen or e openngs have shown and sll show onsderable varaon Eane Lasker 868-1941 was an enely deren nd o an an enz Aer Lasker won he tle he reed o e
T ayr and Sing
unversity here he obtaned hs doctorate in mathematics it a dstngushed dssetaon on te algebra of deal numbers. He looked upon hmsel as a philosopher, not a professonal ches master, and spent his tme ring and lecrng, t occa sonal forays back nto e ess orld There s no doubt that he could have made hs mark n a number of elds but he chose to be a free-lance ntellecal n e adional style of the European man of lters. He regarded hs book on Phosoph for Everyan· as hs most scant nibuton Even ough he played mparavely ttle, as mpared i hs predeessor Stein, Lasker is often ranked as e most suc cessful tounament payer of all time Generally he on rst prze or near rst every tme he competed Sylistcally, Lasker ntroduced nong of consequence H as a pracca player ho as out to n, not to start new school. Even hen e "hypermode schoo as noduced after World Wa I he ould himsef at home n its ncacies, and avod ts exaggeratons Patly because of lack of nterest and party because of his nanca demans, Lasker evaed many of his most dangerous rvas in set matches for e tle No nteatona body of ne quence had charge of the ttle; e champon could do as he pleased. Generally Lasker pleasd to meet hs less dangerous opponents: Marshall Janos, Schechter (to hom he sur pringly almost lost), avoidng more threatening Pllsbury Tarrsch (unl later), an Rubstein. Tarras for many year hs chef rval as naly so frusated by Laskers behaor at he set up a toament championhp of the orld, as con traste th a mat s hoever never really took hold. Fnally, after Word War , hen Lasker as desperately in need of money because of e Gean ation he accepted a mat Capablanca for a prse of $200 lthough he had beaten Capa at St. Petersbug n 94 and as agan to nsh
Hory o t Wd pioip
7
rt ahead of him at New Yok in 2 n the tile match in 2 Lae played vey ineo chess, losg b a wide agin. Js Ra Capablanca the Cuban genus (888-42) o Capa as eeyone caled h econatel soon blt p an aa of magic about msef Afe ·a bllnt st as a child pogy in se of whch he won he Cban campionshp at age o 2, Capa enteed the Cban dplomatic sevce which gave hi e lese and e mens to pla n ntena ia toamen o some i es fom 0 to 3, he wa amng the most sccess of al mpettos Fhe peo p came to speak o h as a chess machne e most pefect ment God had eve deved to pla e oal game e man who neve made a mstake etc Althogh he awas dd excepional ell hs eptaton was moe o a fanta on he pa of the chess wold han a et Evdent the chess wold ha a need to poject the iage of a supeman onto soe mee a Whie Capa dd not aoid an of hs compettos he spis ig lost the :st e match he plaed to Aene at Buenos res i 27 It was a gelg contest lang seveal months O pa had to win s games t daw not conting (The Inteaional Chess edeaon-IDE-now appeas to be tnng to this sstem) The funovng Cban who b ths tme cleal pefeed ine women and ong to e gos the ches ad was wo down b Alekhine's nspang dete mnaion Aeande ene ( 82) as e scon of a wealthy ian fam Hs chess ges appeed at an eal age b he dd not tke t too seosl nt the eoton had swept awa all he eat Rsian otnes ke ohe famos Rssian asts ch as Chagall and Chaapin fo a we he staed on nde the Soviet ege Bt as an stocat he was spect and f seve weeks he w even n a Cheka pison Bese
8
T yr nd Sng
of hs knowledge of languages he was sent on a msson aboad fom whch he dd not eun to his natve count The defeat of Capablanca was e esult of eas of pepaa ton As he ecods n the pologue to the tonament book o New Yok 927, Alekhne spent much of hs me sudng Capa games lookng f his weaknesses devsng new vaiatons whch his opponent could not meet and looking fowad to e da when he cold beat hm f e title Ths wok heped him become one of the geat annotatos of e game and hs books s as the New Yok 92 touament book and hs collectio of hs best games ae stl valuable tems fo an chess paes liba Afte ganing the title Alekhne wthdew fom chess fo seveal eas to take a degee n law whch allowed hm to cal hmself "D fom then on The bief etement seemed to mpe hm to eve geate heghts n hs pla hs stng vctoes at San Remo 930 Bled 93 and Bee 932 showed Fom 90 to 935 he was the leade wheeve he plaed and also the most feaed attackng plae of hs geneato A less savo aspect of hs pesonalt emeged n hs deang wth Capabanca Fo eas he bent his etaodna ngen to den hs val a etu encounte The 927 match had bee plaed fo a pse of $00 Capa was eqed to ase s amont on hs own but once he had t Alekhne demanded th puse n god snce the ntevenng depesson h alleged had weakened te value of e dolla If Capa aanged a matc fo the smme Alekhine asked fo he wnte f Capa had t set up fo the wnte the Rssa wanted the smme So t went fo eas and a e match whch the ess wold had so eagel demanded neve mateialed In 93 when I was a bddng oung sta Capa once showed me e volmnos co espondence of hmself and hs epesentatves w Alekhne detaing the numeous maneves the Rssan had adopted to
Hory of t Wor apop
9
y ot of his way Alekhine even demaded an exorbitant fee r laying in a tornament ith Capa, thereby barring the an from meetng him in seous play until Nottngham 193. ine apa ted or rst in at toament w Bovinnk whle Aleie nished n a tie for sixth, the Russans tats oviously ad oe justiaon te went on, and a new geneaton grew up, Aekhine en to et opponents who were not suh easy arks. Losng lay suh a ial for hm at he had to prove himself erior in every encounter I can real at when I t met Aeie in Nw Yor n 1932 we played a nber of qui in which I ganed the upper han Enraged y losing to a oody (I wa en 1 yeas od, wi ltte reputaon outside e ork) he demanded at we play a set match of sx gaes t en eon5 per move where he squeaked rough to a nar r vitory In 95 Alekhn was defeated y e Duthman Max Euwe 9 ) urenty e esdent o �e inteatonal hess eeraion FIDE (Fdration Inteationale dhecs) Euwe ho lke Lker has a dotoate n aeat, w not a pro eonal ches plyer, and therefore ha no stake n iitatng Aleine' evasive tactis He ed th oganizatonal set-up fr the tite over to e FIDE rst along Alene the piv le f retu math Despte extesve toaen sesses, Ee did not have a record on a par tha o previou hapo When the re math wth Aleine was played n 9, e lost Agan e hess ord was faed b what to do wi Alekhe t a FIE meeting n Stokholm in 93 t was deded to un a touament with e eight leadng grandmasters of that day (Aleine Bovinnik, Capabana Ewe Fne Foh, Keres and ehey) to selet an oal chaenger Ths tonaent was arraged by lage Dth rado network (AVRO the folowng
10
T ayr and Sng
year, 1 Hollad Keres and ne ed r rs lace holy ereafer World War I u end o eaoal chess for e duraon. Durng e war Aekhne remaed n Naoccued Euoe legay he was a zen of Vchy race Unke e oer masers who remaned n Nazoued errory Alekhe was glad o ay n chess ouamens urer he wroe a seres of noorous anemc arcles rovng ha only Aryan" chess had a fur, and argung a h major oonens were degenerae Jews and communs" owards e end of e war he was hosalzed brey, wheer fr alholsm or menal lness s no lear When World War II ended, n 145 l e leadng masers of a day censed by behavor, objeced o hs araon n neaonal ounamens he oves broke he boyco by havng Bovnnk chaenge Aekhe o a mach for he le n 146 Acually s was llegal snce Keres and I had ror ams Bu Keres, bo n Esona, was a ove czen, whle I was no longer so neresed. horly befe he mach was o ake lace Alene ded, leavg e e vacan for he rs me n eghy years. No rovsons had be made fr such a conngency A e U.ove eam mach n 146 n Moscow I ok he nave o roose a a sxman oamen be arranged fr e chaonsh, w e remanng AVRO comeors The ournamen was o be held Holland n 147 Befre e oamen a Duch newsaer charged ha he ove layers would hrow games o one anoer o make sure a a Sove maser woud beme chamon. e ove gov emen demaded a he Duch goveen censor news Feen es ae 962, Fhe ake a sa hge d vun exe he FID ue a nbe eas beae
Hiory o h Wor hpiohip
papers or hey wold thdaw Faced by sch an obviosly pssible demand, e toament as canceled ialy the ornaent was ranged n 8 half n Holland an half in t Sovet Unon wit Smysov tain te lace of oh Fst pze was $5 w e oer pzes n prooion By this me I was absorbed n anoter roesson sycology an no longer cared to acate e tonament was tee hel wth ve layers tee o them Rssian. rest was an ovewheming vctoy for Mkhai Botnnik ( . By now te FIDE was again oally n charge of he whole ocedre or te word chamionshi A egla ssem was introdced, wth naonal ntrona and chalengers' tnaments the nal wnner to la the chamon fo e ttle Before Wold War II the US ad had a world chamonshi am In fo sccessive world team tornaments Prage 3 olkstone 933 Warsaw 135 and Stockhol 7 the US had taken rst re ach me. It e that e Sovets dd nt paiate n e oamen bease at tat tme tey id not recogne the existenc of "naons Bt t wold scarcly have made mch derence since Bovnn was te ony ot sanding Soet grandmaster before World Wa II It as therefore all the more amng when te Sovet team in a cabe match wth te Amercans rght ater the war ndd coed an ovewhlming vioy 15 to The net yea in a personal enconter n Moscow, tey won again, by 12 to 7. It seemed clear at the Soviets ad te best team n te world. I sbseqen team tornamens, te Sove won rst re vr tme they layed. So t as not too srisng when te leang contenders fo the wold tle after e 8 ornament consisteny trned ot to e Sovet gandmaste For a whie the only non-Rssian who was in te rng was Reshevsy e Amecan who had been a Wnderind Poland beore emgrang to Amerca te 920s
12
T yr Sng
lhgh he s severl mches nly ren e le he re mch B kep e rwn r 15 yers n 163 Hs ppnens n s perd were Dvd Brnsen Vssl Smyslv nd Mkhl T Fnlly Tgrn Persn ( 12) n rmenn deeed hm in 163 by scre 12 Th rles were chnged; Bvnnk w dened ren mch nd he whdrew m cve prcpn n he me He s eleccl engneer by pressn dcr echncl scences (rghly qvlen r PhD) Recenly he hs develped n lgrhm r cmper chess Persn ws ced by Bs Spssky in 166 He wn by he dd pn (12 11 ) B nly he ws dened b Spssky n 16 ( 12 10) e prelmnry cness r e wrd le n 17072 were newrhy prlrly becse e presence nmbers nnRssn grndmsers ms em ynger n her Sve cnerprs nd seemngly mre prmsng Wld e Sve hegemny in hess nlly be chlenged r perhps brken? bve ll ere ws he mercn Bbby Fiser wh 14 hd perrmed e nprecedened e wnnng h mercn chmpnshp B here were hers e Dne Lr sen e Hngrn Psch ms receny e Swede nders sn Fiser bvsly he ms ged ll nenders ws ls e ms errc On nmber ccss he bcme s enrged b plyng cndns h he sply le w even bherng cllec hs pze mney s recenly s 167 n Ssse Ts when he ws hed e eld n he Chllengers en he le becse e cmmee hd resed renge he hrs crm hs relgs bserv nces B n lng bere e end he Chllengers men n Mjrc i 170 becme cle h ws Fser wh w
Hory o t Word piop
3
domite e scene. Frst, he w every e f hs ls sx ges, appely etere t crush eve pet regrless f sore e ce tch wh Tiv Vuver It s y fter uch brgng tht Vncuver w ccete s yg ste by b ses Thereup beg t exrny omtn f chess geus errc unredctble ersl e t hs lys bee hs lrk h pelle m i wrl celebrty At Vnuver Fse w susciu f e eele deie he chce f ece he rst ge; he ee o � er evele Then he beg t vry hs ctis f pyg fr eg irect strg ghtg t cleig e st i rws f e uiece. Whle they were rgug out e l, t eee ugh e tch wul eve stt lly Bbby h ivtely te is ebt t Aerc ss s "Le's get gg esult s ll uexecte Bbby eve ge S ing Such e-sie rest h neve ccue ef the hist f e ge betee uch strg ly s ht h hpee? Ws Tiv unng? Ws Fsche ss by hself? Ays f e ges he he ws t lucky but h lye stg sl chess rughut s v h h bught ng velty gst Fces vrte K d Defene, lugh he seee t get te better ge bby csstely bet h Surely the chess l ut e ext tch gist L s, ul be uch re cult e De h ve i sf gs e sgest st vbl t s geerly el tt he que g s Fscher, bu tht he s bter th ye y e else the ecc cures Fuhe e s rgnl gifte, brllnt ster tugh ces s t be eecte Eve bby h efee t hi e er
4
T ayr and Sing
beore at Begrae aowg the Dae to pay st boar for the free wor a rematch agast the Sove Uo. Oce moreBobby wo every game! Oe such vctoy wa upreceete; what u oe say of wo such vctores? Wa scher a superma? Ha a ew era awe chess, th acet game wh fty years earer the great Capabaca had ecare to be a cea raw, recommeg that the boar b earge a ew peces ae to mae t more of a cotst St, these were o premary matches wha wou Bobb o agast the reoubtabe Peosa, who ha beate Botv a retae the champoshp f sx years? As usua, the premay egotaos for the Peosa matc were carre o a heate atmosphere. Bobby wate to pa Argeta the Sovets wate to pay Greece Gea Dr Max Euwe, caught the me sste they agree o a ocae f ecessary he wou toss for oe Bueos Ares wo out Ths tme Bobby fou t much tougher Tue he wo the rst game agast a prepare varato athough he shou o have raw, or eve ost the seco game he aye bay a ost. The came ee raws After ve rous the score wa eve. the meatme Bobbys eccetctes became pubc kow ege. The rst three rows of the autorum ha o be free of spectators The ghg ha to be ust so. Hote rooms wer chage frequety, ot ofte as at Sata Moca ve yea earer, where he ha chage every gt but ofte eough Surey everyboy thougt, such a perso cou ot be a em go chess The came the sxth game wth Petrosa. The Armea he hs ow for fty moves The a expcabe buera Bobby wo At ts pot Peosa seeme to apse. he ext three games were wo by Bobby wth rcuous ease He took hs share of the $25 purse
Hoy of Wod pioip
15
e road a no cea fo e mac paky Boy a e favore preced a he oud n 12 o 8 Oe came up h oer ge An o e age a e or e memoae even Wa happeed on e boa a prcble ha happeed o ar obody a anc p e pelmna maneuve make a facnang o
HPTER 2
The Preli i r Sir i he Sir
Acco NG to FIDE regulaons each side was requred t
subt a lst of fteen acceptable playng sites on � basis o which a suitabe oice was en to be ade W e inia oers e worldwde iterest n e atch becae quite eviden Sus of anywhere fro $1 to $15 as prize oney e cluive of expenses were prosed by a wide variety of oce o Chicago to Belade. It was however we understood at Bobby would not play in the USSR. and at Spassky appareny retalation woud not pay in the US even oug ccordig to l repos he ked e uny So it had to be outsde ese two countes As ancpated e ciies chosen by Spassky were unaccepta ble to Fischer and vice versa It was up to Ma Euwe, foe world chapion and now e presiden of e FIDE Euw ruled in the anner of Soloon: haf e atch was o be payed n Belade which had bid $55 and was Fischers rst choice and haf in Iceand whi had put up $125 and wa Spassks rs choice Fischer now dspensed with the help o US Chess Federaion ocials and began to negotate either on h own or through hs own lawyers; one representave of U.S chess, Fred Craer a retred eneer who speciaized in lighting, did however connue to funcon on his behal but he dd not ocialy represent e US. Chess Federation. Eve ough ere were utterings fro TASS that Euw 16
T riry riry Ski
17
had exc is uorty n vor Amricn, Sot nly r to spt loc i; onorum of ws toty immril to tm. hngs sm to b l r t vryboy s no rfng to s t of t ry" t tis pont Bobby suny py n gmbit nvr br sn n ss: mn 30% o t gt cpts ovr nd bov t urnt priz mony! Noboy t to o th is totly unpct rqust T Yugoslvs prompt rs n Fiscr s gvn in by h to notify r s gong to pl or not ut Pon ul tk is plc At minut Bobby n t Yugoslvs m n i mn o ir on , tog it sm uncl o t tm, ltr sms t jst y sk Bobby or· his Amrcn bckrs to rs nncl gunt, tr in csh or in n nsurnc bo t oul ppr mtc T mont rst s si to b $350 Wn tis s s, osvs r r t r • gn mtc ung n tin Af som bin-t ss ngottions t Icln nlly c to ost t ntr mc n cm up it cptbl u $000 of 62 % oul go o t nnr, % to losr Bo s lly , usul ublnubl potsts h mtch s scul to bgin n Rykjvk on July 2 92 scr rtr to Grossingr's sor n upstt N ork hr rmin mor or lss nmmuco or mons ring ms big book ntining ll o Spsskys gs Spsky, much lss mboynt, prp n usu mnr gtng ims nto bst p bo pscly n ntly H rriv n Iln bout tn ys bor mtc w to strt h Ygsvs hd de he ded Ss he ed dd h bd
T yr and
18
Bt he new Fer gambt had not yet rn ts corse Eve thogh e prse was astronomcay ot of proporon to any thng ever heard of befor ess• and he was de o receve perhaps another hndred osand dolars or more from lm and televon righs, he agan demanded 3% of e gate recepts Fscher's representaves went to Rykjavk to dcker w the Iceanders, whle Boby remaed ot of sght somewhere n or near New ork For a week before he match was to stat the papers carried front-pae news tems, generay asking: Where s Bobby? and Wil e go? The celandc Chess Federaton rmly bt poltey refed the reqest fr e addtional money; Fse had ageed to pay and t was expected at he wold show p On Jy a gala state dnner was held honor of e occason The Presdent and Prme Mnster, as well as nmeros oter dntaries, and of coe Spassky and hs entorage were there bt no Bobby old h go or not? f he dd not arrve by e next day Ewe mght orfet him Reporters anxosly scanned every pane leavng Kennedy arport, bt tere was no sgn of Bobby On Jly 2 t was annonced that Bobby was too to pay a mecal cercate was rmored to be on s way (t dd not est), and a postponement was reqested of and granted by Ewe The match was now spposed to tar on Tesday Jly 4 It stl looked as hough Bobby was not gong to appear, hrowng away he chance of a fetme, n somewhat the same
I
ight egiste e e f y tishet hee by cpag e gues ih hat ed bef Wd W II I the AO tuet i 938 pbaby th stgt tuaet eve hed t pze as abu $550 I 939, he the US te schedued t g t Bes defed i te i e iteatia tea tuaet as ked t be t bad The Ageti had set a hp t Ne Y the ec paye ad epe i Be Ai ud tae cae f by the I eqted a etaie f $5 f the eica cttee, hch headed by ege Ee Reet a ey ivet bae, pt f e "Oyste Bay Ret Whe he ed d equt I decied t g The eica te acgy d t tke pat i e tuet
T rliry Skir
19
mnnr a he had walked out of lesser toaets before At te last minute a "deus ex Inglaterra arived: the British nan cr ames Slater0 oered t double the pse to be used in an wa e mitt saw t to induce Bobby to play With te purse now at $25 Bobby e o to Reykjavi without s mu as a advanc reservaon icidentally buping a young mn from the plane who wrote a idgant letter of protest to Nw York Ti (Icelandic Ailines said that e ew out o he net plane about two hours late). On he was i Iceland, the Rusians who had up to is pn rmained silent entered the picture ey demanded a aology from hi an adission b Dr. Eue tat he had bhaved iorrectly and forfeit of the rst game Euwe pmptly admited that he had violated the rles stating hat h had not done so ere would have been no match and mnting that "Bobby lives i another wold. Fscher also ded an apology through his secnd Lobardy e oreit ws dened t looked as though te match ould reall begn But e ssian rejected the apolog from Fischer statng that he had sgned it, and had not delivered it person passk felt nltd both personaly and as representative of the Soviets It s noed at under uch ildr provocao the past e viets had sipy packed up ther bags and gone home; is tme ey were obviously prepared to be oniliato B tie the match had all the eararks of iteational dlomacy aost on a par with oe negotiaons going on ten the Aerican and the Russians It was stated that eev as personaly diectig Spssk's moves, while Kissi g as said to have been in touch with Bobby hat otted Sate t He ke obby ted ad woked wy to wth d ae; o dubt ee s oe ncaon Late e ewse eoe tht Ste dd ot hae the s o the h oee to tfe uch ge su to o It es tht eetuy eso w gte
2
P
A wh Bb uld u p p Sk w H d t U z u of e d Rj di , " d x to Sp 4 m p t ' b. ll b c wd M b r J r N v u y. Ci c p o z Rshevk ; E t R K L C 13 V
The Pei Skihe
2
ed In fact at one me when e emocrati Convenon e Lyman o of his verage so many rotests were eed frm isteners that e Democras were unced o the a M nanced e last ar of Lymans broadcasts with aio reore to be $er w I st of e eace that naly reailed, throghout the matc Fscher ke u a baage of seatona and odd des He had to have a seca air own n from New r e iting had to be js so, te rom had to be vey dr oy e stage t , rst nne rows of the ad hold be emted the camea and shold be ed he should have the swmming ool in the hotel to hm self te ieces shoud be smale r (or arger), e boar shuld e derent, ad so on Afer a certain ont the Icelanders eaned exemely ote roughout smy ignored his des Fscher' refusa to et the amera lm the event, en ter tests ha reveaed that they ade no noie, ed to a who aleged at he had breached st by the lm ntact wi them e osh mater David Janowski had setted in New York e Wod W I At e Mhattan Chess Clb he was famou f s mlants, al of whh seed as aibis when he ost Filly ne toament mmitee comed w every ne of s equsts sensble or seess; for e rst ime Janwski hd ning t cmain abot He ost You have derved me o ay bi he cred Ho dd y exect me t gd cess?" t Fier desite his inceant barrage of clants and ssile abis, layed elent hess and wn th itle
HTER 3
ob Fcr merican Fo ero
WH the onquet of the world hamponhp Bobby Fhe
ha deeedly taed out a plae for hmelf a one of hedom mmortal Apa o h geniu at he he alo u a lo fu and temperamenta man at he h done more to advane the populary of the game than any prevou hampon H vtory mark an mportant tuing point n the htory of th gae Nothing in h eary fe uld have led anyone to predt h great ture Bo n Chago on Marh 9, 943, of a German bo phyt and a Swi mother Regna a nure teaer later phyian i hdhood year were ful of orow Th parent broke up when he wa o Hi ather ha never been heard fom even now when Bobby i at the height o hi fame Nor wil Bobby or hi moer tak about hm No one even ow wheer he i dead or alive moer Regna i a olorful determined peron in he own rght Bo in Swtzeland he wa brought up in St ous where her father wa a dre utter From 933 to 98 h tudied mediine at the Frt Moow Medal Intute in e Sovie Unon but dd not reeive a degree that was valid in the Uted State She and Bobby aer met while he wa on holday in Germany in 938. They were divored in 945 afte o hildren were bo, Bobby and hi iter Joan who i ve year oder
Boy Fichr-Amric Fok Hro
2
When Bobby rst became famous mother suppoted hs eot n every concvabe way She picketed the hte Houe, appee on TV shows manufactured trinkets wth her sons ae al to cover the meager expenses or hs trps abroad. en a serous rt between moer and son deveoped n 6 n at year he partiipated in a muchpublczed peace march fo San Francsco to Mosw After at she remaned n uoe where she marred her· send sband, Cy Putan, a olege English teacher, and resume her medcal stdies In at the age of 55 she recived er media degree rom e Fedrch Schier Universty in Jena ast Germany. v dely ke Bobby she persists un she reaches he goal Her present husband about 6 or yea younger, moe or e Bobby's age when the permanen break between moer and son occurred In an intervew Th Nw York Tim he omnted at her marriage was 1ke robbing the rade" t hat he had made her an oer that she co d not refuse Wat ed to the bale be!een her ad Bobby no one knows ehe ne s in any way �ommucave But sometme in his aolescenc there was a terrible ght, and since ten the two have alegedy not spoken to one another Even when Bobby wo world champonship, hs elong dream, his mother was o present to congratlate hm fter the divorce Mrs Fischer moved around to severa Ameran cites nay setng n Brookyn Both chdren and the moer had emoona probems, and ere were constant serious is toughout the yea, whch evidently epted openy nly when Bbby reaed adolescence Soe tme around his sixth birthday Bobby auired a chess lmost mmediatey chess became the essence of fe r rplacing sool, friends famy and even other games At seven he payed agains e ate Dr Max Pavey in a simutaneos eibiton hs rst pubic appearance He lost mercilessy bu th dd not prevent hm from feeng at he shoud have
T Pye a Seg
wo Appaetly eve at that age he wa cherihig e hope becomig world champio Left very much to hi ow reource by hi workg mo Bobby eem to have doe litle ele beide play che from age of ix i accout for the obviou eccericities i character which led Euwe to remark durig e match Bobby lives i aother world" No oe ow what he could he devoted h mid to ayig ele beide ches but ever ha ad how o icatio to do o ow H iglemded devotion to e led to a cotat icre i hi playig tregh I 5 whe he wa oly iree y old he wo e juior hampiohip of the Uted State Si e juior champiohip icluded all player uder twetyo thi already marked m out a a player of great promie Apparey, ough i ucce dsmayed hi moher w hortly thereafer came to coul me about what could be do to diuade her o from devotig all hi me to e At tme I et him copie of my book ad had a few talk him almot etirely limied to che. I retropec it become oe of e iroic twt of hito at of the two leadig Amerca che mater of the twei cetury oe almot became the pychoaaly of e other. Bobby wa ot recepve to the idea of ay d of help He ca to ee me about half a doze time Ea me we played ch for a hour or two I order to matai a relatiohp wi i I had to wi which I did Evidetly at that poi he wa o up to hi laer regt I do ot recall the game but I remember that he wa o yet rog oppoito. My fami remember how furiou he wa afer each ecouer muteri at I wa lucky Hopeful a I might help him to develop i oer directio I arted a coverato at oe poit about what he wa doi i chool. A oo a chool wa metoed he became furiou creamed ou have tricked me ad promptly walked out Fo
Bbby cher-Aerca k Her
terd henever I met hm n cub or tourament e me angry look a though I had done hm ome rable ham by yng to gt a lte oer to hm By n e may ell hav forgoen e wole experence In e ummer of 56 durng a vit to England I dcued bb wth Eet Jone the amou analyt ho wrote the pp on Paul Morphy Th a: beore I had any really pa knowledge o the boy Jone repled wth almot prop nght Leave m alone hel become a econd Pal y Fo ny year afterward che plae approached me wh qet to ty to hep Boy out of h obviou peonal r In pite of hi genu, he wa ocialy awwad, pro tve argmentatve a unhappy ut n the end h adnay efimtaton to che on out. Che eem to e ben the bet eapy n the word fo him Fo number of year Boby' proge n e che ord wa decty upad. Athough he wa aeady ure that he oud be od champion ome day ndeed e franky conceded that e the greatet paye who had ever ved he tl had to h way though on e e board. Some o h peorm n we indeent, merey ndcatng that he wa a paye of eat pome but e htory ful of yong payer o eat prome ho tut eir bre hour on e tage, movng qey on nto oivon ven great mte ke Ta and Kere t generaon have hit hghwater mak ony to decline nto th genea ank of leadng gandmate on a par wi any other On top of that, obby' boatng at th tender age befoe he had done anying reay emaabe n the adult wold, ed everydy to compan about h cooal egotm Late mny came to ecety o openly admre hm fo the ame tat. In 957 came h rt bg chance he a invited to pay e S champonhp whch a ao the uaifying toua
The Paye and Seing
ment for the teronal step on the ladder for the ord ch ponshp Reshevsky was e strong favorite but all the o acve Amercan masters ere also preset To everybodys prise but his on, Bobby won rst prze in January 58 sho before teenth birthday. And wiout osng a game! his chess was of a remarkably mature calber thorough kno1 edge of the openings, solid in the mdde game, technic perect i the endgame Here ws an auenc genius second su to appear after World War , e rst hang e Russan Mikhail Ta Not yet teen Bobby was already ranked as oe o e l ing grandmasters e old The troubled litle boy had s denly metamorphosed no a candate or e world champ· shp own mind he was already world champo, bt others he had yet to demonsate is by the hard logic of score. t would require a most extraorary school to oer any to such a youngster rasmus Hall in Brookyn, which attended, was not exaordinary many questioned whether was even ordnary Smal wonder at Bobby dropped shory ereater, w the acd comment, similar to many t followed, at teachers are l jerks In later years rasmus Hal gave him a spea gold me whe Brooklyn estabshed a specal commemorave exhbit the Brooklyn Museum ding e 7 match Bt t does good to reconstruc history A at tme he siply dropped gnored by e authortes bedered and certa about future At fteen he as lanched on a leme chess career Y American chess s a partculary unrewarding eld in whch become a professional No Amercan master since Frank M shal had succeeded in mang a lig a t or any leng ime, and Frank was elped by a ounate gt o a house fro
Bbby Fcr-Amercan Fk er
27
ay paron No dou a feen e maer of maing a
ng hen he as sl iving a home w his moher did no cc oy laer i did Ye he pesised No only was he o ae a ivng a i he was desned o change he naue of r in e Unied aes s srng an ousanding vicor he had also played a a agais Dod ye which has gone down in hisory as n ioral maserpiece I may well e as some claim he gm of e cenury ince his vicory quaied fo e nal he ne year a Pororoz in Ygoslavia he was already n iaional celeriy he Rsians· sowed heir conce in ual way y disparaging his achievemen ovinni who m elf look silly for propagandisc reasons y riing au ovie school of chess" commened quie inappropri al oh Fichers srong and ea poin ies in ha he is alas u o himslf and plays he same way regardless of his oonn or an eeal facor" his commen is much more of ovinnk hn of Fis her er ome puliciy sunng y his moher who heey anaged o raise e epense money for his rip oy played i e erzonal ha year 58) a Pororoz Ygoslavia efoe ouamen he announced hs scheme for qalif ing o he Yugolavia joualis Radojcic I cn draw wh e grand aes and here re hafadozen paers in e ournamen I ron o ea i urned o he seme work d y e narrowes of ars Afr an uncean sar, he pued himself ogeher o ca ou s plan Drawing h e grdmasers proved easier a epeced hile eang he paers provd much harder eloAmeican herwin no really in oys cass lsed oves ven he Fipino Cardoso hom he had demolshed in se mach h year efore p p sch si opposiion he gm lased 2 moves efore oy sred A he end
The Pyer a he Sen
Bobby had squeaked though by a narow margn tyng fo and sxh aces and theeby quafyng or e Candd tounament the next year Imressve as t was to e chess wod Boby's score lef deey dsaonted He determned to do eter e net Beeen Pooroz and e Canddates tounament n Bobby arcated n fou toaments n e US cham· sh he won w geat ease agan w a sre of sx wns e draws But the nteaona scene was derent At Ma Pata he nshed 3-4 Santago 47 and Zurch 34 Cleal "coossa egotsm at ths ont was jused only by hs ag y hs resuts On e nteatonal scene e masters and masters were a far cry fom e ushoes e Amecans se o be fo hm My feeng, howeve s at even at that me hs results w not commensurate wth abltes The freg masters, e exceton of a few to Russan stars wee not so stronge han the Amercans It was robably e arehens and exctement about beng n strange counes wout e o even a owledge of the anguage wel as the usual ado cent conc whch accounted fo hs oo ses Then came e great test n Yugoslava n e Candda touament Al the best ayers n e word were ee, ec fo the world chamon hmsef, who was scheduled o lay t wnne Bobby ove-condent as usual, sueed a sever bac: he shed ted f thsxth n a ed o eght Altho st e youngest gandmaste n e hstory of e game, US amon and now clealy e best layer n the wold o sde e USSR, he nsdered t a defeat rae an a o And defeat has always been a e ll fo Bobby o swallo fom e tme that he layed hs rst game of chess to the ent The wnne of at toment Mal a, went on to b Botvnn e next year, eey bemng the yongest wo
Bbby Fcher-Amercan Fk Her
pon since aul Morphy 0 In my opinion Tal is the only nius ovet chess has pouce snce Botvinik, in spite laims mae o e oes. The Rssian stength histori as esie in the lage nber o st-class granmasters h tey can el n any toament, raer than ceatve s a th very top Lke Fische, Tal is a creative genius speiort i not last long he next yea he lost the match to Botvnnik an sin en he has meely been o many aloans His ecline has been atbute to poo but tere may well be eepe easons which will be s in h chapte on passky an Russian chess. came his ir ty in the championship, now a as the Rosenwal toament Beoe this contest the t sie o his pesonality came to e oe publicly or e rst m te ccentic an e prima onna. He emane at e pans o th tournam�nt be rawn pblicly accoring to an e DE ruing ctually, uness someo1e is trying to cheat ( it impossible to se how he wou so in ch a toua t) it oe not make the slightet bit o ierence whethe te aings ae one publicly o prvately. Bobby even went o r as to allow e committee to choe a substitute beoe he consente to pay This was the st o mny incients elpe to shape e image at has snce become a legen. Nlss to say he agan won the . championship with clos ease In American toamnts, except or the match eshevsky he was henceorh without peer He won eight s nnng, evey me he arcipate In the 6364 event n every game somethng whic ha happene only hal a n ms beore n the histoy o e gam
ophy th songet playe n the wold at ag 22
altough an
od chmpop dd not yet ext. n 10 at Daas an 94 at St ou I won very game n e US Opn we 1939 n e Nor Aen Champohp n Yk won h a sr of o of qtatvy perhas h equa f he feat.
30
The Payer and he Seng
Neverheless the dosyncrases and the eccentr1 remaned prmarly aganst e top opposon In one aganst Reshevs Bobby had hs lawyer on the podu make sre that nothng ntoward orred A peclar about lghng developed whch made hm state that the l ng was never qute rght for hs taste. Snce Reshevs had been e domnant gre n Ame chess after my rerement, a match beeen Reshevsky Fscher seemed a natural One was nally arranged n 6 the wfe of e well-own cellst Gregor agorsky He e rst tme Fscher could not demonstrate hs sperorty t leadng Amecan opponent thogh he had come ahea Reshevs n toaments match play tued ot to be qut derent story After eleven games the sore stood two two losses and seven drawseven Bobby had faled to that he was e top Amercan player n match competton. Then came one of those ncdents that has helped to Bobby famos Becae of another engagement Mrs. atgo asked Bobby to earrange hs game one Snday. hen refsed he was forfeted No doubt s wold have been l bt Bobby walked out He qt e mat h0 entely. wnners share of e prze money was awarded to Reshe Techncally therefore Bobby lost the match everheless people contned to rank hm as better than Reshevsky ough Sammy a master sne the age of sx, was n hs ng years whle Bobby sl had fa to go
In witng hs ok my memoies of my o cess caee have o back and I am amed to see how histo c epea isef I my se game wi Resevsky a Padena in 932 we adjoued in a posion w a cea win fo me e adjoed me fl on a Jews hoday d thefoe posponed, ove my obecons Fo e snd adjoment game w eaanged a eay ime, which I faed to keep Ts I was foeited spit of my objeco Te toam diecto, a D Gth took me into e mens oom d soled me wi a me shot of Scotch ( those wee still the days of Pohibion) w then 17 y old abot te sme age Boby in match w Rhevsky
Bbby FcherAran Fk er
3
nttonl competon s lse stud of his record
o obb so behved rther pecular w After hs ft (sfjdged) in the Cadtes' tont in 5 h e n to Argnt toments n 0 n rst, t Pt, h shard st prz ith Spssk forrunnr o s to me But in secod, thr months lter t us rs, h shd hreenh wort rst of his lif r rl ars Alkhin nd Krs hd smir swgs to obb dft t chss bord s mor thn gm t mps vrtul dsucton of h w of lf Ect for Itznls whr h hd to prcpt if h w to p for od hmponshp, he dd not trust himslf to pl n l b ntton tomnt outd th US. gn for s ntl Bnos Ars i 70, whr he dd nih rst w mgncnt scor of ten wins nd for drws og hr too th botom v pers wr ll second ts ogh Fschr demd mtc for e word chmpon n ear stes, otvnnk, or rthr Sovet herrch rf to llow t. I ndcted n e rst chpter, e prsnt D stp w desgnd prevnt e chmpon from on n bl chllngr on ithr nncl or doogicl Aftr th Ygoslvn toment 5, when Fchr onrtd sprorit ovr ll ors n e Wte l mtch wth otvnnk wold hv been ogc nxt st t e Amrc Ches Fdertion whch hs nve t t mter nd, did not hv th urg to press fo hl obb one coud not do it. n on sense t is for the r snce in or 60 odds wo ve ben hvi vnn fvor or Tls T hd won vr gme gint her n th Cnddts ornt n ase t wa car to obb h to p for the wod h wd hv to folow FIDE rues So h dd go to the Into Stokhom n 62 Here he nshed rst th e
T Payer and he Sen
astoudng scoe of thrteen wins and nne draws e stag w set fo the next step on e ladder towads e word champ shp, e Caddates toament at Craao Up to s pont Bobby's rse had bee virualy stra upwards A few setbacks such as the inablity to beat Res sky, o the poor f at Buenos Aies, were inevitabe. Ce he was maked out as e chess phenomenon of the sxtes At e West Indies island whch to most Amercans is as a wa hospitable touist resort Bobby was faced by Soviet gandmasters and one Cech, wit hs ony ally t naturaized Amercan f r mey Hungarian) Pal Benko Pe· sian won st pie, prmay by not losng, drawng nnete games ot of a tota of twentyseven played. Ta became had to wthdraw. Bobby nshed four, wit eght wins, s osses and twelve draws, behnd Petosan, ees and Gller was a bad bow to his ambons, snce he woud now have epeat e ente procedue of quafng waing at east t years fo a mat fo the wod tite Bobbys reacton was a stong one "The Russans have wold chess was senational accusation i one of the fe artes he has eve witten. He aimed at they had conp with one anoer to let a Russan wn, and at world hess a so gged by the Russans at no nonRussian coud ever ough. s had been my feeing n 46-48 and one reson fo m withdawal f o the word championsp touaent at a te Oes had made smla charges. Just around that me bidge expert Tobas Stone who had started ife as a che player accused hs Engsh opponents of cheatng, whch eae hm a suspenson fo one year f om inteaona bide compe on Bobby charged not only at the Rsians aranged the resl of gaes n advance, in aordance wi a mate pan dictae
Bobby Fcr-Amr Fok Hro
3
oe bu a hey acualy consulted dring he game ih on another Since here were no American obserers on e ene who knew Russian (under simiar circumsaces e Ras usualy u obserers on e scene who udersood h preen American players from cosuling wih one ter) ther is no way o owng wheher is charge s ue ot t igh hower be ineresng o reca seeral incdents y wn eerience A he ineaional touramn n ketone in 933 h e Amercans were ghtig for st place th e Czech who were headed by Sao Fohr then he sget candida or he world championhip Alekhine who bou o go o on an America our headed e Fench t; apart om Aekhne hey were al errbe patzers nsead o laing agains he zechs Aekhne took a bye sayng that h had to prepe or his American trp Bu he remaned in e yg room durng he ene ma, and e French players uld al be sen going up o and engaging in anmaed onersation Surrisngy e Czec eam os o he French i rrbl ups And a he Nongham ouamen n 936 whe I was payn Euwe, hen word champion after his deea Alekhn in 935 boh Aekhine and Capabanc sponane y ca up to me dng he game o suggest moes een th I had o aked them o do so Tu cheatn at chess maches s by no means uknown ated either by poiics or passion Wheher Bobbys charg aout ura�ao are rue or n ey dd hae a strong impact on te ces word Keres wa gien he assgnmen of replyig by te Russian pres n itse is was a srprising choice snce as an Estonian who had seen his couny raaged by th Soit afer Wod War , was aos rabidly aniSoet By ees should hae been permited o pay a match for he t with Boinnik n 948, bu was dened the chance prtly
T ayrs ad t Sig
for potical reasons. Hs arcle carried e hidden iplict� ha he had no been discriinaed gans by the Rusm eithe, so theefoe Fischer had no cae for protes. Nevertheless he protess did coninue The logic of e s: ion was oo copelling in addition o which e Sovie U was in e pos-Saln thaw On op of everying afte Bovi los the le o Peosian in 3 he was denied a chance f retu ach hself, which led hi o etrea fro active c a he relaively ealy age of He oo objeced o the ardu ask of clibng up e FIDE ladder all ove again In spe of all the political achinaions involved, eventu the FIDE did ange is syse o allow ore laitude o Russians and to ake i possible for e ove players engage in any ind of collusion beyond he Interzonal level Set aches aong he leading players replaced the olde ou· ent syse However is did no satisfy Bobby Loudly he had cried t he would never again play in a FIDE ouaen a he w he best player in e wold, and a a tle atch shold aranged where he could prove it When his deands efused he reed fro FIDE toaens, scking o his w A e Inerzonal n Aseda in he us did not show up in spite of several aracve oers A he Olypiad in Tel A in 64 he deanded a fee of $ fo playing knowing a his would be refused, so again he did no go Finally a Sousse in Tunisia, n 67, he broe his vow a paricipaed Alough he was leading by a wide argin was alost cerain of rst pize after soe en rounds a euped abou his religous observances soewha siila o gh wi Reshevsky in 6 When he did no appear he w frfeied Eorts o solve e siuaion wee reportedly bloc by e coitee of e FIDE which a a ie as headed b a Sedish lawer who was uoedl ro-Sovit
Bobb Fscer-Amecan Fok Hero
35
Once more Bobby walked out of a touramet as hs oy sou seseess oe, se eve he had aeped the orets od hav eded rst pae. Somethg o the same kd ed te Spass math but ortuatey there at the ast ie he dede to stay o ad w By 6 Bobb was arady a teatoa eebrty That a te about hm by he we-kow wrter Raph G r appeared Hrpes, whh drew a ot o atteo beause more hs persoaty tha ayg that had ee ad beore zbur stat that ever beore had a hess ampo rused er so muh admrato or so muh atpahy otd Bobby's ostat boast: I ow that I desere to be Wrd Champ ad I ow I a beat Botvk Theres o o ae I at beat" e terew o whh Gbur·s arte was based was ed for re ook At our Bobby phoed that he ddt e e m he he dd appear e was aa a hour ate (ses of the Spassky math, where he ame ate or amos e me) Bobby as emarkaby add Gb ho uded rous quotes rom the tervew the ast oe Bobby has ee e to y erous repoter) brg tod Bobb hat Lsa Lae osdered hm he great t hess payr a That satmet s aurate reped ob, bt Lsa Lae reay woudt be a posto to ow ye a wea a wom There stupd ompared o me shoudt py hess you ow Teyr e beers y ose ever sge ge agast ma Ter st a woma r e word at e Kghtodds to ad st beat0 he asked whether he sdred hs the gretest pay�r ndny coec seme bu he sp
ce
36
T layrs ad t Si
a ever ived Bobby said 'el, don like o p igs ha i pri, i sounds so egoisa. Bu o answer yor q ion Yes" n response o a qesion abo how he ade a living, 1 esaed a abo $ per year, Bobby uered his grieva agains other hess players s he faul of the hess pla eselves [or he lak of sppor by ionaires] . d know wha hey used to be bt ow heyre no e os eanly grop Whe i was a gae played by e arisora had ore like yo ow digniy to i When hey used o h e lbs, like no woen were allowed and everybody we dressed in a si a e, like genleen, yo know ow ds oe running in in eir sneakersven i he bes hess u and hey go woen in hre s a soial pae and people aking noise, is a ahose Even Jews angered hi, ahou he is half ewish haf now eh here are too any in ess They see o have aken away e ass o e ga They don see o dress so niely, you know Thats wha don like Aftr relating how he had broken p wi his oher previous year by havig her ove ou of e Brookln apar Bobby desribed a ypial day in ife Los of e i I avellg around Europe Sou Aeria, eland. Bu wh hoe, don know, don do uh ge up eeven oo aybe 1 ge drssed and all ook a soe chess books downsairs and ea never ook y own eals don beli in tha s don ea i Auoas or luonettes, eier I ike a waier o wai on e God resarans After ea usualy al p soe of y hess friends, go over and anayz gae or soethig Maybe l go o a hess ub Thn a ll see a ovi or soehing heres reay noig or e o d Mayb ll sudy soe hess book n re he subways he said norunaey do avel o the] ts dirykids ere s have nie shos on so ey y o sep on e on purpo
Bobby Fcr-Amric Folk Hro
37
e ce in ere in eir work coes and a peope come in lke amas it's teible. People sitting and tarng t coss e aisles at you is barbaric. (The same fear of in oked at ed to e dictes wi e caeras at Ic ld parety) e subject of coe Bobby said: Yeh I ued to dress nti I was at ixteen But pple just didt eem to e ugh respect for e you know? They were ort of prd n elves They woud say he ba us at ces but he ncou kd So I decided to dress up. He coented t ad a coe ade to order at he had eventeen handmade ve pair of Hungarian shoe ade to orde $1 a par not untn readyade sho hirts at each d n "I ke to drss cy he expaned. A f he had any interets outside of che and cothes he id A hot me before he had dabbled in judo, then gave it e rgarded paitry as a denite science stating that hi a show a ebe nd and a soul that has been ca s y the hard ock of ife At at te he did not bieve in God He agreed with Nete that eligon s there to dull e senses of th peope te i was to change) Sie he had o any obvous disikes Ginzburg inquied eer here wa any goup at he adired wthout quaica n After a hot pause Bobby replied: "Well I gee I t ow Wat! Thee i e aistocrat I adre th aristo You kow e ionairs excep eyre ionaires e iionaie shod be not e way miionaires are Theyre e Euopean iioaire. The Fren pople you ow ot e e Amercan illonaires. Here you can't te tem apart e other peope. Soe of e even dive Chevroets es casuay and all like ey'e afraid to be ooked at e shoud be etng the tandads oer pople Instead; e des ie obs you ow He adited that he had neve
38
T yrs d t Sttig
met any such peope ony read about them books Dckens' T of o its On the way back from Gnzburgs oce the wo stopp an espresso ee houe for a bte to eat Bobby orered a l of pecan cream pe a se orer of butter cooes an elaborate frozen pneappe rnk When he ha nshe hs Gnzburg mentone that the pace was repute to be ow an opeated by homosexuas Ths arouse great conternat n Bobby He sad of hs nk: "Maybe they put someth here I better not drnk t He refused to eat or rnk anyth else n the restaurant Jut before they parte Bobby was aske what he woud o he became wol champon Ths e to a seres of ntere fantases "Frst of a I make a tour of the whoe worl g ehbtons I1 charge unpreceente pres. 1 set new stan ars 1 make them pay thousan. Then I' come home on luxury lner Frstcass 1 have a tuxedo mae for me n E and to wear to dnner When I come home 1 wrte a coup chess books an start to eorgane the hoe game ' have m on cub The Bobby Fser . e Robert J Fscher Ch Cub It' be class Tournaments fu ress. No bums n the Youre gonna have to be ove eteen to get n, unless ke yo have spea permsson beause you have lke speca taent It be n a part of the cty that's sl ecent lke the upper Eat Sde An 1 ho bg nternaona toaments my club w bg cash przes An Im gong to ck a the mllonaes out o chess uess they kck n more money Then 1 buy a ar so I dont have to take the subway any more. That subway make me sck t1 be a MercedesBe. ee a RolsRoye one o those fty-thousandolar custom obs made to my ow meas ure Maybe I'l buy one of ose jets they advertse for busness men An a yat Fynn ha a yacht Then I' have some
Bobby Fc-Amc Fok Ho
3
suits made d lke to be oe f te Te BestDressed at would reay be sometig I read tat Duke Sider h lst h ll build me a ouse. dot ow where but it wo't eewc Vage. Teyre all drty lty aimals dow her ay bud it Hog Kog Everybody wo's bee h ss it's geat Art Likletter said so o e radio Ad hy ot uits tere beautes for oy twet y dolas O ae ll bul it i Bevey Hll. The people t are sot of e but k the climate is ice ad its close to Vegas o, aaii ad those laces got strog ideas abot my hos Im goig to re te best achitect ad have him build h shap of a rook Ye tats for me Class Spiral stai aapts everyg. wat to live te rest of my lif i hous built exatly ke a ook" e pod rom 62 ater te Cra�ao touamt to 70, he h bega his preset comebak actually represets a pai ihdawal from mpettive es i obbys career. He d elutat to pay tide e .S. where owever e ud to w every US campiosip toug aoter th with Resvsky was ever araged. i ubli utteraces merely reeted is gradios opiio of hl 64 e piked a list o te te eatest playes of l time e omitted te pevious wod hampio otvik ll s Emauel Lasker ad a ost of oer eat mes he waed eusiasti about Morpy addig that e d bat Morpy tus mag im te geatest player o all m t tat me Bobby as merely oe o peraps a doze atioal gradmasters o wom ay oe igt wi the wl ttle ohow ked out a livig probably oy because e was baelor ad s eed were mia is prvate life as hroud mystery; after the famou itervie wi Gibur hd te sese ot to tak to reporters ay more Some tme·
40
Te yers d te Settig
n hs teens he had a ght hs mo, ho there moved to ngand; som o her e s descrbed above Bobby's averson to grls became legendary He even re to partcpate n on tornament because the omans a Lsa Lane as aoed n The ony oman ho has ever connected th hs name s an ngng Mrs Grnette Los Angeles ho s old enough o be moer Indeed, f n Bobbys case, the moer marres a man young enough t her son, and the son consorts oy th a oman old enoug be hs mother one does not have to be a Greek to recogni marked Oedpus compex In the ate sxes he sddeny eerenced a regous con son jonng a set knon as the Worldde Chrch of God set, onded n Oregon 40 years ago, s a blnd of Od Te ment Judasm and ndamental Ne Testament Advents mposes Hebre dety and Sabbath proscrptons and prea the mmnent re o Jesus Chrst to set up a sperorgai ord govement It s sad that he ves up fa y to ues o hs hrch, and that he contrbutes tenty per cent hs ncome to t Sudden relos conversons have been a sbect of psy ogal nvestgaon or a long me Generay ey are seen part o the searh or a faer Snce Bobby never kne hs w ather, appeny never even seems to have met hm ater dvorce, hs yeag or a aer thou a relgous becomes nderstandable On top o that snce hess compe nvolves a constant attack on e athergure, both reastc and symbocally t mst have been mtant for hm to some ather hom he could not desoy My contacts th Bobby ere rare and supercal Once w met by accdent n a chess cub, and played some o games o my surprse they ere recorded by someone pres and Bobby even reprntd one n hs book My Sixty Mer es To record oha games s unheardof n modern
Bobby Fscr-Amrcn Fok Hro
s ne wh did s, signicany wa Mrphy In cial rd f al hi games receny pbished i game w n led e bes f my mmry he veral scre was gy his avr he middle sixies Bbby nce apprached me wih an e caur a bk He had many new variains i he igs, and wan em incrpraed in pri I ew hw he ered revie my rcca ss Opnngs. e his erdn and research wee ded amazing Evn he urian Gruenfeld whm we used refr as e card id he chs penings, did n cme p him Bbby ed have anyed in dep every penig in he bk ged him p e mves geer_ whie I wd wie he dcins my prssin cmmens did n aw me me Why dn yu give em p? was his nly cmen e dclined nderake e jb f ping e mves I did n wre e k wih him, e dea was . A ha me cur w he made a iving, I asked him hw he was pad fr a simanes ehibiin $ he said. d y gve many a ha ee 1N" he repied, has igh, s nbdy ever aks me And as jus as wel 70, smeh e g ve he feeing ab he Cra9a de and dcided ry i he FDE way became clear a his sbbrn refusa cmprmise his demands wa ig him nwhere Agh e had n aken par in e revis US champinhip because f a senselss demand ha be ued a dblernd aair, he parcipan gra ly permid him play as a qer in e nerznal a Pla de Majrca anyhw B ie i beame cear ha y had nay med p anhe sp beynd his cmpes In e as sx rnds he wn eey game. e res is sy e sier vicres agai Taimanv and Larsen d he 8 win again Spsky n auaing a pernaiy and sian as cmpex a Fischer
Te Players ad te Settng
and the chess world we can consider Fscher as a chess ma as a champion, as a human beng as a symbol and as a sp man. FISCHER AS A CHESS MASTER Now at Bobby ampion e question arses: how doe compare with e geat names of the past? Alough e world champonship has ocaly been n ex ence snce , or one hundred and six years t has ar !) been doinated by ve playes n that period Steinitz fo years ( Lasker for the next weny-seen ( Aeine for nneteen ( excet for the period when Euwe was champion Capabanca fo and Botnk for fteen ( wi sera rief ex· ons for Smyslov and a° Certany in ters of technical s Fischer shoud e cassed among these giants That he is be than they were at their best there is no reason to beieve as at he may advance again n the future as he has in unbelievabe spurt of is quite possbe What has always been most srg about ischer is maturi of his play een when he was oy fteen He wa ast maste of th openngs an expert tactican n the mid game and sharp as a razor in e endgame He semed to ha no obious weaknesses except for his emotonal nstabiity b that has cost him many a oint including some in the curre match is atude to chess cn best be compared w that Lasker who viewd lfe as a true of which chess was o aspect And Fischer has said "I woud comare chess to bask bal Basketball players pass the ba around un ey get a It s est to eave o e peSten ea Moh eg cou
soe o songt oonen h hanca o Pawn move ev age opponens Knght o song w nve been ob snce
Bobby FcrAmeric Folk Hero
g Li ches, lke a matng atack.'' You pay unt you eig the you hit him with all ouve got Ths wa bvously is strate he reet mtch stratey which d a welldsrved vctory. O he other had f he pared w the oer ve pio ther are otceabe dierence. Steitz ved n a n ches was still poorly uderstoqd; e made it hs lfe wok t ablsh ts bic prcples and show ho ey shuld pd Lsker as an ntellectual more than a sporsma, g chess a but oe o many interests i hs life. Alne is prhap most comparale to ischer er e 7 uion ad hs departe from e Sovet Uno he made e i lie caeer Like Fscher he traed for years to beat a rous pont Capabanca. But ere was the dierece tt Alehies priary goal was as a rule o play beautiul chess er an erel wnnng chess Bobby s sated to wn, ug i process he produces beautful games blanca lost terest n hess whe he becae chapo s i not lely to happe to Bobby For Botnk chess was a ecoary to hs major interest n eleccal engineerig I s accdet that he has devised a system for compuer es uer h had to see hmself as a product o the Sovet te which prompted hm at oe time to wrte a pontless le "Th Soviet School of Chess scer stands out because he has bee more devoed to chess t a of hi predecessors He eats thns and breaes e e ece his total bsorptio whch has led hi to iue o much to openig theory but above all led hi to e e etra psh eeded to becoe wrld chapio ndeed, can only admire the dogged persistece with which he as ped hmse to the top n e oer hand Fscher comes at a point i hsto whe e aout of ovelty that is ivolved is highly lted Steinit eluned all the oengs order to place chess on a
T yrs a t Sig
scenc footng Lasker cared nog about e openngs just paed e board Aene, ho once tod me at he sp four hours a da studng e game as of amazng ngeous nnovatons Capa stched rom chess to omen B vnnk noduced a number of mportant ne nes, though as not mpete rouded n a the openngs In e meantme hoever, a host of masters and home a sts man of them topght have mbed ever openng creaton The game has been prett orough anazed up b e tente move To noduce ne deas and ne bemes ncreasng dcut Fser stars b rrectng erors Yet, as s match shos hs repertore of nnovaons aso mted b reat It s not enough to ntroduce a ne mo t must aso be good Actua carefu examnao of ths mat shos that Spass demonsated more orgnat n e op ngs an Fser on to thro aa hs at one moment or another Fser o prmar because of hs sup tactca abt As he put t, ou toss the basketba around u ou nd an openng Fscher has had e ntuton to reaze that t s not enough have an enccopeda hch desbes e best moves; the pr tca paer aso has to nd ose moves over the board And s he has studed and restuded e openngs u the ha become second natue to hm Heren es one o hs eaness hch expoted b Spassk ad coud expoted b so futue opponent he can be dran to a prepared vaat hch has been htherto ought sound but one n hch opponent has saved up a resoundng refutaton Among the man mths spread about Fscher s the one th he never pas for a dra Carefu anass of ste sho at amost the opposte s tue He aas chooses openngs tres to choose em, n hch he has at east eas equat On the game s on an even k he bens to toss the basketb around gvng hs opponents a chance to make a mstake, h
Boby Fcr-Amc Folk Hro
o oftn enough One of e mos araceriic feares of te s precey a he akes so few chances n is respec tas marked conras to Aene, Ker, and, of hs conorrie, T He has eveoped a knack for oosng open wch give hm some winning chces but where e r ae mnmal eg he ni game of e present match. erhps hs ·greates seng ie in he rapity and ferocty hch he punishes any misake Oce in he sadde he e home w a vengeance Apparey s also gves hm tet persona pease As he old e TV personaly Dk aet: "I lke o see 'em sqm" Yet i a due respect o Fischers genis, t would be a eous sake to regar hm as in a spercass with no competio. es jus s no made a ay y more Even n he peset eoun_er, in e rs en gam� Spassky scored ony s o by freit Bu n e next en he payed een one oe loss and egh draws Wi a lie ck and fewer eors, s ourteenh game exampe, where he hew away eeenay wn or in he enh game where he iscarded an eeta draw he mgh wel have on he pschoogy of e aenger s qte deren from ha o he teholder As chalenger, he e so acklng he fer e n h tie seat he becomes e faher How Bobby w dle at obody ows He is no e only man in e world wo ou o ge o e op, nor he ony genius arond Chess ser have a way of gunnig for a wor champion remans t e een how he wi fare agains e yunger generaon I inigung o speuae on how ong Fiser wil reman chamon Fis of al e htoica record show ha shory after new champon wis e e som unknown rises o he tp o becomes the main aenger ad eventualy champon en Anderssen on prze a London in n eec defeatng Saunon for e world le, Mophy was unknown • en ophy ba Anderssen eintz was unown
T layes ad te Seing
When Steintz beat Anderssen in the next allenger Zuk tort was nnown When Stentz played Zertor in the Laser was unnown. When Laser beat Stenitz, CapabaQ was unnown And so on down to Fischer When Botvinni e te in Fsche his real sccessor in a cetain se� was unown. etany someone new wil show p to chale Fsche n the net ve to n years bt who it will be no 0 can te Apat from the unnown of e ftre Fischer's sperio over his present-day rivals s none too secure As a carefl stu o his career shows t s ony in the last o years that he moved ahead of his competors They too mght decide to stu) harder and forge ahead frer That was how Aleine deeat Capablanca ater ferior results or many years as did Eu w Alehn and Tal and Smslov wth Botvnni Conivably Spassy gven a chance at a return at (whi seems unily ight reverse the score just as in t present match he held his own in the second ten games ate distrous stat in the rst ten Troughot hs scher has been his own worst enem is itte shot o mraclous that hs antics dd not lead to a · cellaon of e present mat Hs chess was by no means of € highest order In another match hs opponent might easly ta better advantage of hs numerous mistaes Le Muham A who s somewhat simila to hm n personalty towads end he seemed to tae some pleasre n taunting Spass can become dangeos on e chess board as the eleventh ga shows And aain some oer allenger might pnish him for adacites Yet it is equally possble that Bobby wl move ahe even fuer overcoming e weaesses shown in e prese mat Only me wll tel Snce I do not share Bobbys be in the occult I wll eave aside urther specuaon
Bbby Fcrca Fk Hr
FISCHER AS CHAMPION ow on and or an indenite future is period in hess t wil be own e Fisher Ea His pesonaity his aeen and even idiosynrasies wi dominate e ame t ae way that peviou hapions rued in their day. The ath has aready set o a hess crae e like of whih e been seen before in the Weste wod Saes of sets b d other hess equiment have been soari. The em eh o the US. Chess Federaon has inreased astronoil hss ha beome a bime port nly Fihers personality has ontributed enormously to t nd H s, despite dulties, an easy erson to iden fy th ay ess and winwhat else is there to fe? Thee n a Horao Aer twist to his lie story whih makes hi l e ore interestin A knd of hidike simpiity akes him o undertand even some do not sympathie with soe t dvie he has used l his behavor to date reates a ertain uneasness about tr orld haionship mathes Certainy Fisher wil neve ee f ess as Lasker did for many years But it is possibe tat e st suh extaordiary nditions for any future aler that it wi be impossible to eet them He ay not v ae himself at ey are impossibe muh he sees hav been unaware of e nature of some of his atio in e t math If at does happen the oia wd body wil to dede whether he reay wnts somethin or whether he is dodin a haene It ertay seems desiabe to ariy t ondition surroundin a tite math befoe any inident
FISCHER AS A HUMAN BEING e of Bobby behavior so sae unreditable odd d are that even his most adent apooists have had a har
Te yers d te Settig
me explanng what makes hm ck. Apar from the ntere chess whch he helped to spark he has therefore also sparke nterest n the psychology of chess When wroe my book Te sycogy of te ess almost twenty years ago the chess world pad le aento t they were much more nterested n my technca wrtngs Bu. n the past our or ve years there has been a consder change No doubt part of ths s due to the vasty ncrea nteret n psychoogy But par of t s also due to the ae to grasp hat Bobby scher s up to Durng e mat was approached by a varey of ournl who had read my book and wanted to k some quesons a Bobby The range of persons eager to nd out more was a ng: from the Srt Jour to the Lodo Times Bobby s a compleey onesded genus wth everyhng devoted to hess At one me Ta recommended that epand hs educaton to whch Bobby reped wth some d paragng remarks about Tas tellecua preensons. Snce age of sx chess has been the bea and enda of hs este the na goa beng what he h now acheved: the wo amponshp Dsered by hs ther when he was two and by hs mot when he was n hs teens Bobby has for much of hs fe b pareess No doub hurt by ese rejectos he has retaat by becomng soca soate t has generay been very d even to communcate wth hm He has ved n hotes shft from room to room and from hote to hotel recevng hs ma a th Manhattan Chess Cub or some other pub ocae v peope who have been ready to oer hm money have ha hard tme geng through o hm The soca soate necessay s ued n upon hmsef does not deveop the sls and graes wth whch o han other peope Frequenty he buds up grandose noons ab hs own ables o fuure whch he s euctan to pu to
Bobby FcrAmrc Fok Hro
bcomes all the moe cautious and suspicious abou ocial ntats since any furer reecon is all the more All of certainy hods for Bobby hroughout the years he extme diculties handing human beings These n publicly commented upon by �cores of people many have excoriated him unmercifully ay to eectations the social isolate sues from terril ieies He fels lonely wrapped up in his own cocoon yet o proach others means to court a reection simiar to the awful os tat have occurred the past So h is caut up in end coct and in reassurance which does not reassure ppl realize how insecure Bobby realy is he may vey dny it to himself His boasting arrogance disparagement rs ae typical ways of covering up his deep inne insecu t ey ar othes only because they do not realize how h e is n the deensive es is almost his only wy of makin contact with people yet by bating them he desoys the contact n his younger days n e was still coming up in the world he reuented the ubs and coee houses where he could nd opponents. Wn h got to be too good for that he spent many long hous e room et it be cle that none of this expain his genius here are uch socia olates in the orld but few become chess ste hat it does explain however is the persistence with ich h pours everying into the game months bfore the present match Bobby reteated to Gsingers allegdly absorbed in the big book of Spasskys e with fe if any fends litte if any feae companion sp and anot incommunicado Presuaby he was preparing sef hroughly t a lose revi of the match reveals little of his innovative u in e openings Quite the conary: almost a the inno
T Pys and t Sting
aos as for itance in the 5th 1 11th 13th, 1th a 16 games came from pass who seeed to be orougJ familiar wi Fscher's opening style One gets the impression fact that Bobby hardly prepared at all, elyng only on hs tastic ability n acrosstheboard play. n public pires of wh he was dong at Grossingers he was more fen seen wi punhing bag than wth a ess boad It uld aso eplain his peuliar behaior bee the mat and in the rst two games Had im Slater not come thu wi the additional $1, Bobby stood to reit not only math but his entre chess re sin no maer how mu of a genis a ma if you cannot deal with him you sidest him There is a sayng in chess that when a move is unclear ou wait ul e end f the game. f you win it was a sacrice, you lose it was a blder. Bobby won so many people think he was engaged in a blliant maneuver to bng chess into e realm of bigtime spos. This eplanation does not seem pausible It seems more lik that Bobby was enormously apprehensive about the match. F his opponent not too much was at stake. He had lost to eosia in 1966 he had won in 1969 othng threatened hs life of eas in the Soet Union; he woud remain a popuar hero as long he lived But for Bobby it was almost literally a aer of lfe o death So his great anety is understandable. t in fact a minor miae at Bobby did get aay wi what might well have been a blu. With much less provocao the oviets had walked out of toaens ad matches before Had they insisted on the foeit of the rst game demandin that Euwe either foreit Bobby or call o the atch it migh indeed never have taken pla, and this me ey would see to have had some juscation for their actions erhaps frune favors e fearless erhaps it was a result o ions visit to Moscow ad e apparent aw that has deve
Bbby Fcher-Amercan Fk er
51
ed US-Soet eatons Or perhaps e Russans used to a rter of a century of easy vctores smpy underestmated r opponent and overesmated er own sength Nobody eer know At any rate the Fser Gambt succeeded n e oer hand Bobby's forfet n the second game s n erey derent tegory No ess payer kes to ose by east of a The oss n e rst game must have been a bow nter the usua sng of abs about nose TV eas etc Hs behavor n the secon game has a the ear k of an attack of panc He stayed aone n hs room takng noody tore the teephone out of e wa was reported to e ey agtated and forfeted e ame Hs recovery after that was a the more remarkabe reveang deep sengths n hs aracter and hs capacty to spng ack om defeat. Bt hs recovey shoud not bnd one to the ss n to whch he had sunk before Pary Bobby has found hs adjustment as a sportsman It b seen at n e few ontacs he makes apart rom chess es to engage n a game wth somedy tenns png pong g Much ess s nvoved fo hm n ese oer games st e ae hs prefered means of dean w oer peope Apat rom the ner nsecures e man externa probem e soated man comes up n hs reatons w women eyody has agreed that there s much amss for Bobby n t aea The ony woman mentoned n hs fe s the myster Mrs Grumete apparenty more of a substtute mother re than anythng ese As Bobb gets oder e pessure to a satfactory ove reaonshp w a woman s bound to ee ncreasngy acute cuse of hs weknown antpay to grs evey tme obby s a dte t becomes amost frontpage news Lary Eans got a gr n Argentna; he got marred n Yugosaa he danced a gr n Iceand the rumors are oth sy and fequent
Te yers te Setng one o his predecessor herochampons whom he resem most cosey had a partcuary happy time wth women Bo has a ong way to go n s varation n the surace Bobby may now seem ke an ebuent bo young man who s enoyng e eatness whch he has dee edy earned et he now remains a oubed human be Whether the ord champonshp wi meow him or whet he wi at some pont need proessona hep ony time can te Incdentay t is not at a unusua or men wth g achevement to uer om serous neurotc or even psycho dicuts Isaac Newton is a prime eampe He was depressed paranod man who never · managed to rate women Ater the epomang dscoveres o hs eary ye (eoy o gravtaton and e cacuus) he reay never i anything ese o scenc vaue n hs ie, wasting hs tme useess uarres w the Roya Astronomer Famsteed and eporn obscure regious questons whch have ong sce be orgoen FISCHER AS A SMBL In the current ess cre whch Fser has set o he see to have acqured symboic vaue or many peope He beon to e ero group o word champions n whch nu Morphy Stenitz apabanca and Aekhne as conased wi he nonhero group which woud ncude a the oers Heroes are created n a sense by eir admirers Morphy popuary ooked upon as the greatest es payer o a tme teinitz as the ather o mode chess Capabaca was know as "e chess machne and pubcy announced at he h mastered e game once ad or a advsng the word to mo on to another game. Aekhine came to be taked about as t reatest aacking payer o me. eedess to say a these superaves derve rom e che
Bbby FcrAmec Fk er
ayers need to nd some hero whom he can orship But the hapons themselves payed into e hnds o the worship nd derived great sasaon rom the idoatrous groups hh grew p arond them scher is wel on his way to bemig one o the ol heroes f u time, that has not aeady happened Technicaly the i that he is the greatest playe o al tme does not stand p o srious scny as yet the same applies to Mophy t ere s a deep need on the part o many pple to poject te wn grandose ambitons on to him Cetan exteal acts end themselves to his symbolic value a quarter o a ntury the Russians have domnated the es world; champon and chaengers have al been Russian aps ha the ess payers in the word ve n the USSR y mnt tonaments wth a mllion payers prnt boos t edtons o hundreds o thousands o pes (athough ussian chess literature is surprisingly smpy) To bea the an champon ths acqres e smbolic meanng o defeat he Rusans Bbby s a man who s devoted heart and so to chess Exprs may see n this some ind o neurotic maladjstment t to the average person e act s moe important than ts vaton There are hardly any other proessional chess payrs the S, nobody realy who maes a ving at payng hes, as go, tennis asetball and oer champions ive rom her sport The e Americans wh are proessonals mae ney by wrting about the game not by plaing Sce the champon thns about aost nothing but hess the herworshper in can by identcaon devote a o is enegies to chess orgetng the cares o wie ildren, wor he and everyhng ese Chss s an outet r aggressn ie al spos t diers rom er sports n that t is an inteecta outlet invovng, as a ul no hysical vioence n a warweary word millions hope
T ayers a t Sttig
for a peaceful esoluton of all the pentup aggressons n t world rather than a mltary one Legend has t at chess start out as a substtute for war and may people see t that way peaceful battle between an mercan and a ussan rather th the bloody one whch has bee a nghtmare snce Wold II especally symbolc of s hoe The entrance of hgh poltcal gures at certan stages le added meanng to the symbolc nterpretato of the matc Brezhnev was persoally n contact wth Sasky t was sa; Kssnger was coachng Bobby In fact t was even announce durng the match that Nxo had nvted Bobby to vst hm the hte House Money layed a ole as wel n e ymbolsm Who car about a sport n whch the rst pr s $ ( as t was m rst tournament foty yeas go)? But push t up to a quter o a mllon or even a mllon, as e talk s now 0 and matters loo derent t the moment these vast sums hav to come fro ndvdual patrons Bu once the possbty of TV transmsson games s worked out ey may well come from e gener publc as is the case n other sports My feeng s that e chess crae now gong on s due partly t Fscher and patly to a socal revoluon whch reults fro changng world condtons Sports generay have become mu more popuar and the rewards for e op players have sk rocketed. Chess s the unversal game of the Weern wrd I s played al ove urope the US Canada and Latn mrc but not n sia or frca ( except for small groups ) It th serves as a symbol of the unty of Wesern cvlzaon. Pevous champons have lagely been intellecuals whch le to the dea that chess s a smat mans game They have bee 0A
La Vg ody od $.4 mlon fo a rtu mac w Spaky whc Fr ru, ma $0 ml I ha o ngd Fhr o a mach fr a pu f $1 mlon Som no only wonrn whthr Fch w r play ag.
Bobby FchAmecan Folk eo
plagued wi doubt ut whether to ly che or not Chess, e felt w too hrd to be gme nd too e to be ence. Not so wi Fiscer He hs discred intelecual reten s Chess is so like betbl ie tennis You toss he a around un ou me our oint You move e ieces ud unl ou nd wea sot iscer's ni-inellecual stnce is credil ronounced. One eser reo hd him to he right of e John Bir sociey licll After centuries of reous freedom he reverts to ibleuming revivlist sect. n n ge of sexual revoluion he lk for vrgin He seems to be ost literate in wod irs So it becmes es for Fiscer to lize shift from chs s me for inteeculs to ess s a our sor c nybod cn l or is is ricur to be delored atever its intellectul merit or dem�rits chess is fter ll sprt n which men ght i out nd let e best mn win It is n is see t Fishers victory mrks ng oint e histor of chess e codicton of e oenings does no hae r to go before it is mlee; e middle game is we understood e endgme mter of recise nsis Wi e eoreicl roblems of e gme resolved wt remns is el he individul n handle hself over he bord e "e er whic Fischer s lmost e uret in chess sor ends himsef red o e idenction wi sot He i in e stle of oer sos gures ike o elinsk Joe N Lee Trevino nd Muhamm Ai A recent ricle in he ew Yok Ts bout te Ruin tenni sr ie stse mre hi to Bob Fischer rnng him s ose second to e chess chmion in reelnce fult gmmh Lie b Nst s mbinton of notorious bd mnners nd mgcent reexes As es becomes igme so the inds of eoe who re
5
T P S
o necesy udrgo . n g B r o t m s l, G h wa r y a s n anig x m I is h e a F e e ] re i a ne n v k: , - n so e ad c w- Y n w f r .
HPTER
oi S The Exhapi
woud be hard to nd to chess masters more unke a
k Fser. om to derent cures, w two en ily dernt bakgrounds eadng radca deret stes e a that the have n mmon s a genus for hess coupled n nsaabe ove for the game Bos Spass was born Lengad on Januay 7 ust past four hen the Nazs began th sge of Lenngad hs years were spent n potca and persona mo Bors s oder brother and younger ste ( who ater became a check rs apon) ere evacuated The sesses consequent upon hs year ed to a break-up of the famy e parents ee ored n 44 after a move to Moscow nce en Bors has en hs father oy a fe mes a ear even though bo ve he same cty Bors' mother s desbd as a uncompcated person ho s both purtanca and regous he s depcted by her on s a won who beeves that everythng s good s word and tt caness s an attbute of geat met; s may account f h extraordnary cam n the fae of Fschers povocatons at Reyjav Bos was propeed nto the father poson n hs famy at an eary age He te us that hs mothr coud not ork afte sh was forty due to an accdent resutng from eght-ftng whereupo he had to become the cef even ough he as ony sx or seve Hs father ad appaet eft entrely and
57
5
T lyrs d t Stig
was of no support to em even nanciall. It ma be becaue Boris was pused into an iportant role too sn pused imsef to te top of e cess world on to nd burdens too onerous. Boris leaed to pa cess wen e wa ve. He too Bobb loved te Rook "because it moves a saigt Wen e famil retued to Leninad after te war Bo en aged eigt, developed a eat passion an respe for game He plaed it da an nigt, rt in e cess pavilion te park, ten in e Leningrad House of Pioneer. An unusual feature in is isto is e reliance on tai His rst was Vadim a candidatmaster and senior coa at te Leninad Paace of Pionees Later e moved on Gandmaster I. Bondarevsk. Tis too elps to acut for curiou ambivaence about cess and e uneven caacte is resuts. ess plaes do not ordinaril look for ainer; fact ave never eard of one apart from Spassk ess is individual game, in wic e plaer relies on is own work propel im foad in te competitive race Spassk's proess was rapid B 47 at te age of e promoted to te second categor (te Soviet Union as a ra ing sstem of ve categories, of wic rst is igest prior t candidatemaster, and wo ears ater at elve e was candidatemaster. In 5 wen ol fteen, e was second te Leningrad campionsip beind Taimanov but aead bot Levens and Kornoi Quaitative is is not too f beow Fiscer's acievement in wining te US campions at te age of fourteen . Unke Bobb, Boris ntinued in scoo. But e switc from one el to anoter nall nding up in te sinecure "ournaism n te Soviet Union leading cess mastes are su· sidized b te state in te guise of some ocial position of wi: "student and jounalist are te most mmon. n view
\
Bor Sssky-T Exp
geat payng sength he had already demostrated he was leady on hs way to becomng a professiona ches master n two signal achieements rst brought him to the atten io of the internaona chess word H beme word unor apon at nerp, w a score of irteen wns, two draws one os and, een more strikng, he ed for thid n e U.SSR championshp only haf a point behind e oint win s eller and Smyso and equa wth Botinnik, Petrosian litzky Since he was oy eghteen, he was already being iled as the Crown Prince of ches Botnnk was then still apion By the next year, , he was thid n the Candi tes touament at msterdam an inteaonal grandmaster, though barey nneteen ranked as one of the word's top ten marked contrast to scher, Spassky always remained exces iely modest He stated later at he neer belieed at that e at he could become word chamion Oy years later n he jokingly told Bondaresky at he woud become apion after which he ben to take the idea more seriously t een after h ganed e tte he seemed quite uncom fabl in his roe a discomfort which must hae played a ong part in his loss of the match fter this brant start which went along th oer-eoard es of the highest order Bors began to slip n the years fom to hs resuts were mediocre, accounted for in pa1 his personal troubles which cuminated dorce Of hi rst ife he used the curious phrase that they were ke bishop s of osite coors meaning apparenty that they each went their earate ways, neer een touchng physically Durng this od he was in troube with the Soiet authori as well who tre tmes kept hm away from play n freign countres s is customary in such situaons e Sovet Union the ature of hs deance was neer dcosed t was howeer eported much ate that after the Soiet inasion of Cecho
T yers d t Sig
slovaia in he had had the daring to shake the hand o Czech deegation at one ess event. n ater interviews Boris aso revealed how derent hs choogy s from Fschers He emphazed ow he ossesses ghtng spirit; he ost a game he ud not sleep Later said at once he s beaten e makes a great attempt to back believing that te defeat is even hepf to him anoer tme he eaned how hs surace calm covers up nner volcano Actualy feel very nervous inside durin game as there was an exposion progress But when I m a mistae I y to keep mysef under ntro to remain q1 and cam and to :nd e best way out of a dicult situat When pay chess probaby I seem raer unrued but ths not really so t s lke a cown's ace which is put on specialy £ e occason when I appear parcularly calm I am realy fee specialy nervous" Beginnng n ater 96 Bors's results resumed er upw< course For the :rst time he won the USSR champons with e spendid sre o ten nne draws and one l Severa other outstandng victores brougt him he rght to p} e match or the world ampionshp w Peosan n 966. was a cosely-ought contest, ypical of modern ess Af tweve rounds Perosian was leadng w two to noing a ten draws Spassy was parcularly upse because of his a to e :fth game He wrote ater When I faled to won :f game to a certain degree ost ndence ad my opponent was rght there to pick up hs own It wa by no means coincidental hat after e twef game was eadng he match wh a two-pont margin But even ough he had ost condence, Bors st manag to ght bac plucy In the send ha o e mach agan 1 ater wi Fischer, he almost drew even orcing Petrosian stetch e match to the required twentyor games, which t champion won by the odd pont n e second ha Spassk
�
B Ssky-T Expon
a actally peror three in to to with een draw t ld ee at Spaky itating Fier, hold ake the bl deand that e rt half of each atch hold not be ted n e nal re erely looked pon a a warngp d a n baeball or golf r defeat cae anoer ere of ctorie n the power toaent at anta Monca he nihed rt ahead of hr and at Beerijk he alo topped a ong ed lly he again won e eiination ate, ng h e t to noer try agant Petroian in tie he won, core of ix to for, w irteen draw Oe h had bee world chapion, hnt cae ot here er that he wa not fortable the ole. He lacked the n nng that o arked in · Fiche nce he wrote e I nd it dclt to play well agant a cloe fend ohi hen I ad a brdge fro with Maich Dajanoi d Jaa I ldn't play agant the eroly the toa t and propoed draw At oer te he reaked that he l rather not be world chapon, he wold ch ooner be dnary gy jt playing che fr the of t After h l t Peoian he wrote with proph inght I hope I hall be tronger n thre or fr yar tie tha bt after that I all dcine and anoer trong lye l take y place. Che i an abnoral way of lfe and o ean at the top yo need to be ery efdicplned Botn k a ery dedcated an, and ha th diplne bt it a y yo need to be bo ith. I a qite e oppoite ery ractcal and copletely dorganzed" pky' peronal le ha alo been cloer to noral than her. In he rearried and ha one chld by the new aage He i decrbed a an aid rader with both Doto s and Solenityn a faorte athor. He ad to be ery ody at e, occaionally falng into deep dpreon (thi l be dicd later ) . Unle Bobby, he neer boated abot
T ayrs ad t Sig
his achevements nor did he ever try to glory hmsel in way. He s a peect example o e non-hero type o champion just as Boy is a perect exampe o the hero ( see e ollowng chapter on e psychoogy o chess or a discsson) . The present match is characterized by a seres o incre blunders on his part a nmber so gross at they woud n expected o a strong cub player much less a world champ e match s reviewed in detail it appears that his sum games ree to ten where he made our terrble blunders hm back so ar that he could not catch up But n later ga he aso missed important chances: the draw n game tht and the wins n games ourteen teen and eghteen Some1 he ost his nerve at the crtca moment ar too oten Hs preparation or the match was superb ar supero Bobby's. It was he who introduced most o e opening inn tions which wil stic. Evdently he had studed the Amer· games much more intesely than e American had studed But h was consstently outplayed n the mddle game be o ear o his own aggression Nevertheess t should not be ought that passky sh now be written o At hs best he is as good as anybod has been at or near e top now or at least teen years In s o hs weaknesses he wll no doubt be one o the worlds lea playes or a ong time. Dring the match t was reported that some Texas mion had oered to put u a purse o $ mlon or a re mt with Fscher That would be the airest thng to do under < crcumstances Though the outcome would be anythng b oregone conclusion t s ikely that Fischer woud wn b smaler margin Mny have speculated that Fshers an were designe "psyc out hs opponent act at at was what t was a about Ths seems unlkey since t would ply that Bo
B Expo
ipad hs acie quie nsciously i oring e fac behaved a way more or less all hs life Bobbys on in amos every game ay well have been a conscious m o show conemp or his opponen Bu passky did no e o such dsh provocaon e s playng dierences beween e wo champions are sl a here is no doub he oucome was srongly inu d y psycholocal consideraions ore imporan han bys ani however were assky's on iner conics and poon o a world champion in e ovie Union paky own inner nics have already been aluded o a poins His deciency e le sure of winnng s so ne wonders how he ever go o be word champion a Ool hs aggression mus waver back and orh respond oewha beer o deea an o vicory This nsan on explains his uneven ouamen resls as well as his cues in e resen ma A cse examnaion of his �rrors n e resen mach yields psn nding (as does an examnaon of Fschers) ere a exessive endency o reea The s misake he rd me where he failed o punsh Bobby's bold advenure r frm ecessive cauion Successively ere is a needlss ea ible in he ou, fh s en ireenh feenh heenh games is woud in more wih his discomfor eg mpion an wi any reacon o Fischer's "war of lough ere migh have been some connecion since reaied so impassive a siuan which dd call or a n recon h oer side of he icure e psion of a world cham n e Sovie Union aso requres some more exended uon ine ess came o Europe some ime he Mdde Ages eac has passed from one counry anoer A s Ialy sronges chess masers whch accouns for e many
T yrs d Stig
oenigs whi stl have Itaian nas su as the Gio P ( qiet gae) onzan Siciian Defense and so on assed to Sain en to France, from ere· to England, ere to Germany in the nineteenth century wth Emanuel L ker as world chamion, d nally in e present cenury chess asters have been eier Russian cizens or of Ru: orgn In itself this s a crious socio-historica henomen� which calls for some exlanaon Ohand it ould seem after a contry reaches its great power olitically, soe of aggression sihoned o into the gae of chess which s bolically has been t game of Wete Erope and America centuries No dobt there st be oer factors which histor research can ncover In any case, Russian spremacy in s centry, esecia since World ar has scarcely been aenged Bt most of exerts of Rssian origin were emigres during the per between e two World ars The powerful ntingent w doinated the chess world beeen 9 and 939 inud en like Aleine Rbnstein, Bogolybov Nizovich Tar kower and others who left Rssia in the turmo of the revol tion Reshevsk ld be inclded n this list since technicall he was bo in what was then Rssia Te only trly natve who reached internation rominence before ord War I an stayed on in e U.SSR was Botvinnik Ater World ar I the sitaton alteed rimarily in that t strongest Rusian masters were not permitted to emigrate the old guard all retired or died ot excet for Boinn Keres and Flohr, latter two now Rssian ctizens Ke escaed e fate of man of his fellowEstonians because he w sch a great chess mster• lohr who aw his native Czech slovakia devastated and anyhow under the doination of • I reped a e e Sve a ccud a Ker' m w y d sca sruc av s ucd
B SssT Expo
et preferred to be natralzed espcally since he had a sin fe who preferred to stay ere ease of popularity of chess n Rusa e Russs had lays een able to ed arge teams of great strenh, unke ie like Holand or the US. where a wide ga was aways nd beteen the top to or tree ayers and e remainder Ye prr to World War II no top Soviet maste reaed e top, h e ecepton of Botvik In tournaents ed on ussian il Capabanca Flohr, Fine, and eshevsky consistently n ied ahed of othe mpettion After Wod II the rst sig at ths was t change came e S.S.RUS ado matc n , wh the Russians n by the one-sided sre of to 4. However is was e of reection of the powerf Soviet strength under the p an of world supremacy as sch f ght payers n e AVRO tournament of are en as te est of their times e ony ones who were not er Rusan or of ussi orgin were apabanca and Ewe pba ed uwe decid raer pecipitousy retred. ly Reshevsky techncay no onger a Russi continued to t on e internatona arena n e period from to e Sovit Union seemed to be eeloping an inehaustible supply of grandmasters Frst Bot nnk on the ttle, aks in a to e one-sidedness of e tornament Then Smyslov beat hm ony to lse te retu t Te same happened to Tal Bronsten ed tereby allow ig Botnnik to ke e tte. Finaly Petrosian smashed Bot ik n more becuse of Botvniks d�cline tan because of erosian's great strgth t is notewory tha of te ve Sovet word camions after tvinnkBronsein, Smysov Tal Petrosian and Spss, none lted very long; the longest was Petrosan who hed the tte for years from to n ths perod although he kep
T yrs d Sg
the word tie cause only Spassky was permied to p against hm, his touament resul were most unimpressv certay a ar c rom the soid series of ictores hich mark Boinnik's caeer. Te Soet Union is a country which has been torn by enomous purges rom its nception which hae et no one een e most eminent untouched Relatie cam within t ruling herarchy has existed ony since the adent o Brezhne ess an ten years ago It seems kely that in suh a poitical atmosphere ctory chess on e one hand means a great dea since it gies t winer nancia and socia rewards o e highest order (B innk eg has tice receied e Order o Lenin), whie on t oer hand it exposes him to tremendous jeaousies which m hae grae consequences i he aows himse to sip a it Een Botvinnik oud not toerate e poitcs o chess in t USSR and preerred to ree rom the game ater h dee by Petrosian It is no wonder then that e champion wou become inreasingy insecure as time went on Furermore, e Soiets hae come to attach inordinate me ing to thei supremacy at ess Forgoen i e at that whi Aekhine w aie he woud hae been shot on sight by an Soet citizen; now he becomes gored as e "rst Russia word hampion Wheer it was dctated to him or wheter h wrote it himse is unown bt Botinnik did pubish a sense ess book on the Soiet schoo o ess in which he aeged nds o adantages r dialectca mateialism In its own wa th book was not at a much higher ee tha Aekhines notori ous ares duing Word ar I in which he atributed his ow sccesses at chess to e ictory o the Aryan spiit. Whie outiders may aug at e aemt to ombine che and dialectica materasm the Soviet chess master require to take it in dead earnest. I he goes abroad, he must ook upo himse as a representae o count and his cuture Hi
B SssT Expo
xploits have a nationa more than a rsona meaning (after ach of his oreign vories Botvinik ent Stalin a teega ankng him o the hel at had bee ven to him by the Russian lader). Conseqently a deeat is seen as a nationa eat as well. Frermore, as aeared ater th losses to Fischer, the Soviet plaes are sbject to olitical elanations o eir losses and olitcal rerisals Accoding to a newsaer disatch om the AP, in Febary e State Coiee on Physical Cte ad Sorts issed a dee citiizing Sasky becase he "started t work less in recent years rarely took at in imortant cope ons and n e corse o the atch against Fiser he did not ow high oral qalities and detrminaon Ptrosian and Taimanov who also lost to Fischer, were in t taken to task r lain well below ir abilities n orer to make the chess asters work hader the Coit t ordred all ess masters to take at in the contry's cham pionshis rom �ow on and bade dras in less than thity oves withot e ermission o the referee hs the Sovet grandasters are now eqied to stake thei ntire careers in one toamnt ater another where they are bligated to comete egardlss o eir ersonal wishs. his rtainly does not mak or mch eace o mind nor can it be ected to create beer chess With sch a sychologial backgrond it is no srrise that celence comes to be as ch o a brden as an asset It an be nderstood why Sass eeatedly eressed the wish not to b chamionhe did not want so mch rsonsibility iosed on hi I one adds to this e act at family station had done the same ing to him as a child it becoes uite come ensible that th inner strain involved in the match was enor os Unde sch tremendos sain blndes can easily occ- and they did It shold er be considered that hile Botviks arcle
T yrs a Sig
on the Soviet school of chess coud be met with skecism b foreigners it had to be taken as e gose tru by the So masters Thus ey were forcd to confom to a certain s whether they wanted to or not e naue of is stye can b teased out and coated with Soet ought in other areas. Amost a quater of a century ago Dr Leoold Haimson and did an intensie study of e Russian mode of laying chess reealed in the master games While s study was classi for a long time it has since been decassied so that its essenti ndings can be released now The summary of the aer is follows The Soiet chs style at that time was chaacteri by an extreme emhis on tactics and counterattack. Whil their strategic concetions were none too striking their tactic execution was suerb Aboe al they eschewed a assi defense reying rimarily on a igorous counterattack. n a sie ositions Soviet ayers frequeny went to ieces unable t olerate a ong-winded defense in hich they had no agessi ossiblities Soviet chess was noted for its highy original ideas ote markedly dierent from ose common in Western uroe an America n art howeer is originali stemmed from a lac of familiarity wi what was done ouside the cuntry e their rules remained slighty deent in a the did not allo for a draw by a hreefod reeion of moes; both Sassk an Perosian seemingy forgot this Weste rule in games agains Fischer in which ey had he uer hand A certain intolerance of draws was uite notewory The ayed to win or lose ofen wnning briiany because the took so many chances and eualy ofen osing needlessl because they woud not choose a safe defensive line The fear of deiation which had been such a marked featu of Soiet sociey had cret into chess as well No master dae
Bo S Expo sy
t his style was relly ierent fom t of others In eference to s ressre for confomity I recalle n ncient n my own sty ssi in nvte by e newser to ive my imressions of ssi fter few comments ot e sbwys I wisely conne my remrks to chess mon other thins I note the er wl n of ly in hi ssi msters of t y ene commentn t only ecetion in the Moscow toament was elvienet, hose ly ws mch moe soli thn tht of ny of e oers. tely elvienet (who ws ter kle e wr) rote n ni1nt leter to zv iclimn ny ierence o the other msters n tcn me for arn to insinte t he ws serior Art from otvnnik the otheoss of this rst Soviet chess sle ws seen n ronstein n esecly ut once t h eme routine to see only Sovet wor chons notceble cnes in sye ben to ear hey fmilize themselves ht forein msters w«re oin hey ben to y moe s efensve chess hey showe less ornlity. hey not ny stoe voin rws ey alost seeme to wecome hem in to tounments he en roonent of the new style ws Petrosin who n e tle from otvinnik From to when Krov ere on the scene the Sovets roce no new rnsters, but were ominte by the sme rou of eerts eres Smyslov Peosin Sssk tc Petrosn I hve lys thouht of s e wekest lyer who eve he the orl title His style cou best be clle bureucrtic since he tens to win by ersistence moe n by mintion Frer is tournment rests even when he ws worl chmion were not n e shtest eree imressive ut even wi e new style e ussn mster seeme eqire to confom Everyboy now ben to ly ctios
70
T ayers ad t Sei
caeful chess, and a high percentae of draws became e o of the day. In one toament it was epoted at Spassky h oered a daw to evey opponent The old stye pro to 1950, seemed to t in wi Soviet soc· poltcal condios Attac was the constant ode of the day man was safe f any extended period of tme, so thee was o point to cauton Champons d not ast ong; enjoy it while can Dr Haimson noted sting simaities to the Sovet m tay mind and to e genera atmosphee of oiet ought Once the oviet had estabished themselves as a secre r rate wold powe a stong tendency deveoped to safega ei postion Hence e change in chess style was aso a re ton of this change in word posion and in sef-mae So geat was e domination of the Soviets in word ess they began to think of themseves as supemen at the game cimax came when e st match of the Soviet Union agai the est of e wo was aranged n 1970 lth
S -
7
ee o longer Rsan Besdes Fischer ere were e Ygo lvian Ggor ad Trifunovi the PolshArgentie Najdorf, d a kd of reaissance after the war the Hngaran risc, e Dane Lars, e ceander Olafsso and man ers e Sovet team cnned to win all the Olmpic ache primaril becase of er seng on e lower boards ic ould not be atched b an oer contr. At e higher eels even e world chapions like Smslov, Petosan Ta Brntein, whie often at or near e top in nteational aents were also-ras o man occasons B the earl 60s i had become lear at Soviet spremac n chess was e derent fro Rsian spremac e pre-World War era; enethcentu chess has been dmnated b Rssians et t e hghest reachs ngs were deret The world apins could not maintain emselves for long, apparent rous nder e stran imposed b e Sovet sstem The id keep e wod ampionship after Botviks retrement in considerable measre becase of poltcal machnatons as ell as chess gen It has aead bee mentioned that Keres s never permitted to pla a mat for e ttle which he iht we have won fer Cra9ao Fiscer had deonaed at he was the lding plaer n e Western world A match with Botvnnik at time wod have been logcal Had Btvinnik plaed inst Fscher e wa he laed against Petrosian the next r he wold probl also hae lost So ere s some jtice in ier ai at he shold have been champon a ong tme o altogh he wold most lkel have lost to some of the ther iet asters who defeated hm at Cra9ao Sass came to Rekjavik escorted b two granasters and schologst Wat e pschologist was for was neve elaned It shold be remebeed gh at Soet pschol o oerats at an entrel derent level from Amecan, the
72
T yrs Sg
ciica rach f which at any rate dinated y the d tries f psychaalysis Sviet psychlgy is stil hea Pavlvia with a ajr ephasis such questis as csci chice ad he w t act, which are either uderplayed igred y erica psychlgy In ur terilgy the rle e psychlgist fr Spassky ust have ee ainly at f expert wh culd help Spassky anipate the siatis hat gt it wth Fischer Clearly his faied cpetely After gae 17 e Russias fraly suitted a cplai wi the izarre arge at Fischer and the Aericas we usig ceical ad electric eas t iuence Spassky Whi e Wester wrd ked upn this as a crude alii f w seeed likely t e a certain ss, pssily eve a excuse puig Spassky ut f the atch at e last iute, Sv citizes have t tae any such cplait with the utst seriu ess If the Svet gvernet was gig t clai at Spass was gig t e hed respsile fr his actins whe he g ack he, that ight have daagig repecussis The eect f e Sviet arge ust have een erefre t a Spassky even re ervus than he was whe Fischer cu augh it as a ad jke It des shw hat the Sviet hierarc regarded Spassky's lss as a eagful lw t their w iage whi he ight r it nt have t answer fr pe sally The atest reprt is hat Euwe has ered t aend t FIDE rules t aw a retu ach eee Spassky a Fischer, whie the Svets have ee cl t e idea. I he Sa Ati "Fried Chicken tuaent, hed hree ths aft e atch Spassky was t alled t pay s evdety he eig puished fr his ss I ay case whie ere was undutedly a wa f eve gig i Icelad, it was due re t e pressures exeed Spassky y his psiti ad e Sviet attitude t ess a chess asters an t Fiser's chidish antics. By sized u
Bors SsskyT Exmo
73
saon coec once wh his emark o he ove
ers ha o em a neove ob her hear sn in ha he d no see s ha her hears aren in i bcase he nveehasn reses on hem
CH E R 5
The Ps choog of s
IN addon to e oher novetes inouced by ths match,
became cear even befre t started hat ere was a nte1 psychologc due gong on as wel as a chess duel Many that sher was nducng a dberate w of nerves, w I do ot beeve Towards the end of the match he Rss even came fort with er bize accusation abot chem and electroic inuences In any case some psycological expla tion of e matc s caled for as much as a tecnica ch expaaton ess s rmarily a mans game Whe no eact es avalabe here seem to be about oe udred men playng game fr every woman The de is cangng somewhat but sti sees very few wome who take he game srously In al cess hstory ony wo women have ever reaced a sage whe ey were srong eno to mpete in a masters tourname wt men Unke e more energetc sports, hre o ysca cont bewee e wo payers So css becomes an ntelectua bat beween two men In a elds of ife men e drven y e w to wi In a che game the mmedate goa is to beat e other feow So ce bemes a oulet fr e mans aggression Peole are geeraly brought u to conce ter aggess 74
Th sycology of ss
and chess players are no ecepon Ordinaily they wil ht ey play for relaxaion for sport fo ompanionship nthing excep e pleasure in beang e oher fello In hi respec Fischer, wi his almost chldlike simplicity l nohing As far back as anybod could tu he was pulcy announcng at he was e bs player in he world ll the bet player of all time Hecould bea anybody and njoyd saying so long a he was climbing to e op e wre horrie ntagonized or repelled by his boasing N that he is champion i has o be looked a in a dierent T adim involved in his vcorie is no hidden by Bobby le o see 'em squrm," he said whe he was younger When qured more polish he said: I cush e oer feows ego T tatemens mus be aken lierally. Fischer really beliees rough hs chess vctories he s desroying all he enemes wo made hs lfe miserable and biter as he was gong p e e y gh wth oer bys fom he moment ey ae old nog to stand p As ey row t akes dierent forms A t it ay be a maical belef at ey can do anyhing Lae magcal wish is exended o characers in V moies and , suc as perman. Gradually e boy tess hmself ou ist oe males rs agans faer en brothers, en others sde e home. For many men it remains a physical outle ino adulhood even ino old age Oers are socazed eadily and lea to chanelize heir aggression ino foms h do no directly hrt oher people. Usually boys begi o take an interet in hes� shorly before br about e age of wele sommes a lile earlie At ime the boy begin o compae hself w e gown-up er and to take sock of where he might be going in life he lecent period whch enes shotly ereafe dominate vish,
T yrs d Sg
by the boy's consant attempts o supass hs faer i whav way he can. For this adolescen batle, which almos eeybody g rogh in one fom o anoer chess oers a maelos o Chess is a game at c be leaed i an ho, yet canno maseed in a lfeime Hence any boys star on a eel no far below father Wi a ite assidos diligence hey can s cach p o fae ad in many cases srpass hm Thee ar � obios aibis in the game as cas, or een in sports, w1 a payer may complain a he was mse-bond, o too ti a chess playes oe alibis so readiy is an indicaon osing is qie painfl B e boy who beas his fahe a c acqies a sense of sasfactio which hard o eqal in ot ways Besides e fae, boys in early adoescence also pay ches lo wih ohe boys of hei on age Fo may it becomes al an addicio for a peiod of me I hae seen boys of is play cess fo en or twele hos a a me, een contin the game whie they wen to he toile Al te chess mastes I hae ee known hae passed hro a peiod in adoescence where chess ws a bing passion years ey do noing a is moe impota forgetng scho family and most ohe spots Someties tis adcto goes so far as o incapacitate e b for oher aciites Earlie I reated how Fischers mother ca o me when he was thee o see how she cod ge him aw fom his excsie deotion to chess; fonaely se did scceed Spassky who won a strong Lengrad jnior o· et a 12 probably wen togh a simiar deelopment Most boys go thogh a brief homosea perod i ea adolescence e gres ary b mos sdes epo at eas % hae a few casa homosexa contacs, sch as mt mastbation or sedcion by an older n and ten moe to coacts wih gils Since chess brings boys togehe fo ho
The Pychy he
at a time without permissible phsic contct, it cn serve s defense ginst e homosexu wihes. In fct one most ever ns n overt homosexu who :is chess pler In m k he Pychy f he he Pyer I rew some shp asts between the personlit of e tpic olescent homo eal an the tpicl ess pler Generlly the homosexul is pssive mn who fntsizes at ettng mcl omnipotent fther-es to help him out lfe's emms He tens to be we unmbitious ferful of itite contcts wi men s well s women The proxicl iem of e over homosexu is t he ns i hr iht me whom he cn just be fens B contrst the chess pler is pt to be push gressive itious n son enoh o be successful The resonble ol of the ression which is essenl to pl chess etens t ter res of vn Nn Reier hs collecte numer of interestin leens t the oriins of chess which very clerl brin ou the aessie fctor In one Europen leen b Jcob Cessolis at 125 the stor oes tht n este phosopher invente e me in the reig of ilMeroch who presente reu lal in meiev wor s monste of cruelt vilMeroch e up the bo of his fther euchnezr nto three undre pieces n rew them to three hunre vtures. The ae en nvente chess in orer to cure hm of hs maness other leen tol b lAli it si t the me ws ete to sst in the militr eucon of oun price plee tht he ws incompetent to le his rmies into ar owin to his wnt of experience Leens frequen relte how chess ws inente to be stUte for wr n one cetin in of Ini who ws ecef incline procre e ivenon of e me in ore at s felow monrchs miht sette ei putes oer th ad wiout eusio of bloo In nother in wh ws
78
Te lyer d e Seti
passioately fod of war had oercome all s eemies ad bored ad ll He istrcted a sage to distrac hm where chess was ieted ad he was show how to aiplate fr\ ad dese tacts The ig tried he game ascertaied t the philosopher had spoe rly ad fod distracio heal i chess Still aother leged related by Firdawsi told a qee who had two sos each by a separate marriage w qarreled ad ally resorted to war Oe died battle ho ot hrogh beig slai ad whe he ews came to the qe she accsed he brother of mrder He cold ot satisfaco explai to his mother how the death happeed ad so he ca together the wise me of his igdom ad laid the case bef them. They ieted the game of chess ad made clear how � g ca fll i battle withot haig bee slai The ig t too his game of chess to his mother ad ths explaied death of his brother She coied to stdy the board all t day ad ight wihot desirig food i dea released from er sorrow ad from that ime the chess board rmaied i e owledge of maid A freqetly repeated story s that of the reward to t philosopher who is spposed to hae iented chess he t g iited hm to choose a reward for e etio of sc charmig game he is said to ae ased for a atity of co to be placed o the chess board a special way: the rst sq is to hod oe grai te secod doble e hird doble th the fr doble that ad so o At rst e ig gladly agree bt the he realzed that here ot eogh corn i his igdo to omply with the reqest Someoe has tae the troble compte tat e amot o co ased or a total of 2 -1, eogh to oer Eglad to a form depth of ore tha irt eight feet I this leged the lose oectio of hess wi mathemats beomes apparet goig from leged to reality it may be obsered that t aggressie elemet recedes more ad more to the bagro
Te sycology of ss
the gae itsel, the King is no onger le he is che t" a wor iniscaly relate to but it no onger has menng outsie of s. Pyers give check to e enemy ng ey o not attack fact s the gae is playe enemy King is not capture at he is on at Pieces r cptre, but the tmte goale eth of e enemy ngis aways enie pyer As plyers become more expert, ei gession has to be bck ore n ore Beginners sll sa check when they c the eney King eprts o longer o so ome beginners n chec" whe the enemy Queen threatene s too sse quicky A Gen wit in fct onc wrote boo entitle cto to Specttors t ess Tours The boo con s of thre hunre blan pages n one oer page on i ws written: KEEP QUET Fischer ight hve one well istibute this boo to the spectators Ice nsmuch s ere is no physcl contt the intellectl ele nt becomes overaccentuat� in e gme Per se ches is a emtc exercise the soluon to wich col be foun f ng experts engage a coopertve eort to o so As chess sy hs one e soluons have bee contribute by hn s of chess anlyst n mters fro l coers of e gobe Wile chess is eoreticy raw, e rst twenty moves been nalyze alost to exhustion corrections to the blshe anlyses re constnty being foun s e current tch once again shows. Hence aievement in chess is in fct tellectua achieveet of a fry hig ore whic justes e winner's feeling t he has one soeing worthy of note syologist are sti strugging with proble of speccity generaity in inteigence: is inteigene glob abiity tat n be appie to nying or is it copose of abilties that e for soe reson specc to a certin rea? I ches the answer to is quetion sems to be about 5050 e Dtch psychoogistces aster Arian e Groot has com-
Te yers d te Seg
pled he records of al he eadng chess asers of he cenr lsng 55 andasers fro Phdor o Fscher Groos work was pubshed n 3) Man of hese sho abes of a hgh order n oher elds an dd no The occupaons ro wch he grandasers coe s bo slares nd derences nderssen Lasker and Eu were aheacans; ovnnk s an enneer Capaba began o sud engneerng b abndoned n avor o ch Thus abou ha cae ro aeaca-scenc elds, an other professons are aso represened Ru Lope was ergan as s Lobard oda. Phdor was a uscan bus s ados he Prs Opera. Deschapees was a sod Lews, McDonne and Sanan were busnessen; Kol a baner (aer hs rereen fro chess ) Zukeror and T· rasch phscans uckle a hsoran Tartakower a poe T ov s a concer pans There was even a chess as1 naed Harons who danced a he Opera Hose n Ven and one who was a professonal srong an ere was a s on an ndan esae Suan Khan who was anos erae; coes oses o the chess chapon of Sefan Zwegs novee Te Royl who s depced as a knd of do-savan• Fro hs sud of faos hess asers de Groo drew an conclusons Grea acheveens n chess do no requre per se eceponal hgh verbaconcepal degree of negence; 2. e course whch he res o he chess paers fe a depends lrge on wheer or no he was educaonal a enronenal n a poson o aval hsef of a foral ra ng wthou oo uch concoan rustraon have he presson ha s becong ncreasngl dcu for even he os gfed persons o acqure ea skl n che • In 9 th wld hpn U.S. h ta wa nvtd t spnd eenn th h f St Khan tr n ndn Mahaaa f S-and-S Stan Khan w qd t wat at tabl al evnn
T sycoogy of ss
wout long years of concenation in adolescence. De Groo h at o-ids of te leading gandmastes ave been pesionals at least fo e eiod en ey layed cess, g some left lae fo oe elds So muc noledge about game as aleady been accumulated at long yeas of study idisensable to acquie is koledge befoe anyone can in ea masey Bo Fsce and Sassy ae fulltime ofessionas Sassky's pesionalism is concealed end is alleged occuation as a "jalst but everybody lks u0n as a lte :ctio wh te Soviets maintan fo easons of te on Fisce of s as a eal monomana about es. queson s often ased ee e ntellectua abilities ed fo geat acievement n cess can be eadiy alied ransfeed to ote :eds Cod Fsce no fo examle me a togt matematcian o enginee? Tee s no ea to believe tat s is so Fo ateve eason s genus r e game s secc to ess as s aso te case i Sassy se facts oeve are� not very eevant to e yology h aveage cess laye In s md vctory at ces is an tllectua acevement and defeat an intellectual falue ot rly because e cess oblem is so cult bu also because physil cntact as been excluded Ho eole eact to vctory and defeat deends on te pyologica makeu; on te ess boad deend on at hess means o tem unconsciously In geneal vctoy ll be lt as an enancmen o te esons sefesteem since e as it by is on eots l defeat ill be seen as a mai saon o inelectual incometence ot o ese eacon a be exaggeated in exeme dretons by te acula scs of any esns syce Fe snce cess is a batle beteen to men e meanng bot victoy and defeat deends on te unconscous meann f e enemy to e laye Te boy o deeats s ae ses
82
T Pyrs a t Sing
e world as his oyster So it is not surprising that he records victories, shows them to hs friends ad boas of hs ach men In ntrast e loss may reinforce the boy's feelng tha he a faiure n fe because he can never catch up to fa who always defeat hm Or it ay mean nothing more a loss at a game faer was a ndly man who alowed son to grow up properly When I switched from chess to psychoanalyss my rst cons tation wa w a man whose presenng complant was chess made nerous and at he could not sleep after spent an evenng at e game. Later I leed at s extremey mmon complaint. Fiser, brought up wout a father from adolescenc een wout a moer, i a man who h been snguar uns· cessfu in eerying outside of chess Hence victory n ess hm must grat al nds of revengefu omnipotent fantss which he gets back t al e men who hae humiiated roughout hs life By e same token, defeat brngs hm b to e saton of e helpless abandoned lle boy wher felt so desperately unhappy. Hece defeat nvoves amos total breakdown of his lfe style and s us a drstic th After his loss the rst game he seemed to have suered a of breakdown which led him to forfet e second game, ano unheard-of eent in chess hstory Spassky had destroyed hm way he had wanted to destroy Spassky But en Fischer sho at remarkable reslience of character whch s so pica hm makng a brllat comeback n e next eght games wh he virtually cnched the ttle. woud thin at ichers strange behavior beore e mat when he almost talked himself out of the chess word motivated more by a terrible fear of loss a by anything Hs apprehensiveness remains apparent under e sfac anyone who looks closely
T Psycology o ss
83
Sine vtoy grates many of th omnpotent fantases of fo Fse, he may qte onevably retre fom c hess fo a whe orde to ndlge these fantases. ue ne he deveoped a ae haengng essentay nd style n e seond haf of the math whh mght we ost hm many ponts he may we beome feafl of what haenger mght do to hm Al e hampon of e t wthdew fo some tme afte the onqest of e tte; cer's retement may we be onge bease of hs emotoa ts nate of ess s sh that t ends tsef to some degree daa from e game f the agesson beomes too he paye an esot to oesondene hess o to one nmeos vaetes of pobem · omposton and sovng hh thee does not seem to be any open ombat at a peson an gve p hess atoge, omng bak to t ony m ate age In fat a ommn patten of deveopment t whee the boy pays hess passonatey n adoesene ves t p fo hs fe" wo, and nay ets to t n ate dd ge o od age Te spetve es of vtory and defeat n the psyh eon hep to expan why hess s payd so tte by women Fo woman the enemy s geneay aothe woman whom she to defeat n ode to get a man Vtoy ove a man eess to he sne t brngs soaton fom men athe an ove d vtory ove a woman does not get he ose to a ma o who strte of e game s hade to t nto he enta sheme (Natay thee ae many exeptn t ths sheme eay nowadays hen womans oe s hangng so apdy ) gan n tems of the meanng of vtoy ad defeat t mst mnd at hess s afte a ony a game Vtoy an nmzed as ndental to fes man endeavos whe defeat can be shgged o as of no moe sgnane an deeat n
T Players and the Seig
any other game, such as golf or tnns It all depends on psychologists call the degree of ego-involvement how much game really means to the player, which wll vary widely hile chess is a maematical eercise in eory, it di from more convenonal mathematics in that, rstly there is clearcut solution and secondly it takes the form of a co wi another person ctually where e soluon is clear-cu in many endgames the game is abandoned and a new on begun The absence of a clearcut soluon makes it dicult many mathematicians appreciate the game So while man the maematicalscientic elds are atacted to chess, others stay away from it because ey cannot tolerate its un· tainties n addition to being an intellecual battle e chess p lend emseles to al kinds of symbolic meaning which a helps to eplain the appeal of the game, since checkers, eg dominoes, do not oer the same possibilities for symbolic ection The central re in chess s the King, which gies the g its name and its uniersa character e word for King is approimately the same in all languages ( unlike the o pieces incuding the Queen, the names of which ary) is "s in Persian, leading to chess, checkmate, King and arious equ lents The King s the acme of indiidualism hence a chess pl who identies with the King is apt to be a highly individua person ndeed, much of Fschers behaor through the and particular in s match becomes more understand it assumed that he sees himself as one of e absolute mona of the past commanding others to obey him, do his bidding get out of his way His gorcation of aristocrats which reealed in the interiew with Ginzburg, ts in with this s image
Psychowgy of Css
5
hologially e Kig stands for the owerful father of dhood By wining a hess the layer not only unonsiousy fs hs father, bu also akes his ae, hus gratifing eer 's goal in e rialry with father. r from symboiing e faer he hess Kig also sands self-image whih is ike the King of he hessboard, indis sbe but weak He is all-moant, ye his owers are irumsribed, and in atua fat he is one of the weakest f ies This onast between he reality of a weak iee and fnasy of a great king sets the stage for the rojetion of oy deelomental nit about beoming a man. It an tense or mild, deending on the boys bakgound ther, a third symboi meaning of the hess ng is the one the king is a en. As in al riary wi the faher, gh his iory he boy ains sexua ower In hess this is dby ee beause the iee itsef ( indeed a the iees ) d stand for the enis Fisher's wel-kown fatasy of buid house tha s shad like a Rook an be ierreted to e a tyia double symboi mea�ng rs of all t is e enis for whih he aareny nds so lite use in real f ond i is a astle in whi he an lie in grandios asy ike the kings of old shutting out the rea word, and ro ed by moats and sodiers from any danger of attak n additon, he ees and the board end hemseles again onas to hekers o all kinds of symboli meanings A dring the math deam ha she was e King of a sbod beig ressed o he board by ressure from many ds This woman, who was arrying on an unhay exra i loe aair, had a srong desire o b a man, thereby ig the sexual freedom she roeed o men Bu oside fes would no le her (they ushed her o he board hae suggested hat Fiser marks a tig oint in hess beause he sands for he shift from hess as e game of
86
T Plyers nd t Sen g
ntellectuals o a popuar spo suitable fo he masses. As a s it can readily be adaped o many dieen purposes. An can earn it in an hour, ye i takes years to become a mas Competion can be swit and excig, as he present vog Swss sysem ornaments shows. Masers can ake ve ho pay a game or ey can do i in ve mines I can be an paed a ehibitions of quick chess and blindfold ches j masters become much ore poplar as ineres in e g conne to accelerae Special vaations he rles can lead o contess of d ype Besides Swiss sysem ournamens ere coud be o· mens with special ime limits, conests wih special opei even matches tha sart from certan speced unclear posit Up o recenly chess masers have had o rely on patro rom weahy men o make a livng uch as wers did · era centuries ago The insiution of royaltes made wriers i penden of patons but dependen on he ase of the pb For he r tme now rough TV and oher modern m chess has a chance o become independen o e patonag s e which has hampered i so severely in e pas TV perfo ances mass-scae competiions sch as have been going o the Sovie Union for a long tme can provide he bass sold core o professional chess masers who w be real po sionas devog their major energies o e game. Psychatically e presen mach was a batle betwee paranoid and a depressive aracer Fischer's paranoid have been so obvious or yeas a i has become amos ro o reer o em f his persisen mplains are lised i is fund ha ey refer o: a ) TV cameras; b ) closeness of audi ( clear e rs few rows ) c noise d ) lghing e) shap chair Tere s no reaon o eel ha here is any reaistic fo his complaints. he noise level was careuy esed found to be adeuae The mach was aended by dozen
T Pycholoy o :
87
anters who hd tcited .ove e wod the o n s umo t the plyg codtos wee exceet hs comlts e ut togethe sychoogcy t c be ht they exess hs wsh to be teted s kg of old: he seted secl ch the oom must be secly t is emtted to come too cose to o me y mout o ose eope must ste t h dmgy bu ke t obvous t they e dog so Afte whe evey cme to see tht h de hd soethg sycho lcay ecu bout them Hoeuy hs vctoy my eow t the ot whee he becomes moe elstc bout lyg os use he ttches omotet fes to bo vcto d a hs eco to the oss the st ge ws ost crhc Wht s cedbe bout hm howeve s hs b s out of these od sttes d hde the ety e chess bod wth such emkble skll N tht he s ch e chess wod my tht m o the ecutes whc we so obvous beoe wl pp Tht my he but t s dstct ossblty ee tht t w ot Rght te e mtch eded t ws ced th ew Yok's Myo Ldsy wted to gve hm ike te de but ocls we hold o becuse they kow whee obby woud tted Amog hs dosy demds o the myo w oe o buetpoo c He e get but t tmes dcut cho questo eveybody ss s ths f he hs so my emo na oblems how c he ly such et chess? Ths s e ly wht s so cedbe bout hm tht ste o such ossy sh behvo s te foet o the seod gme he c ply temedous chess B ose exmo o hs y so shows tht ste s s cess ws well beow the best o tht he hs yed ote cotests I oe wods hs evousess dd
88
The yers and the etting
s hm gd de, d migh el hve cst him e tit Spssky h t bee eqlly ervus I ig e gmes I s sck by psychtech csderis the freqecy hich he mde di mves f peces e edge f e brd, d is pref mde f ercg gst e ceer frm the side ith regrd t he rs mvg t e edge f the brd d be cidered megfu ly if he mves hems ere bd r dbus Tht is deed e cse i gmes hree, eeve, three frtee sevetee, eightee d tee r eigh t f t f ety, exrrdiry percetge his edge mever" is mst likey the eqvlet f e rig y ht he s ys threte s fr s he cerc gst e ceter s hs bee tstdg chrcterstic f his style Chessise i fte gd ide Bt fe egh i is mch t red prly he bvemeted gmes re exmples) . his may ell hve sme psychlgic meg fr hm: ith prblems bt me e ceter my be re f exces cct Spsskys depressve persly cme vris w Otrdly he is s calm d uemti he mst be i lzg hs ggress, i ctrs he mby hch Fischer dsplys hs ggress he rd w gme rqres cscs ggressve tet. If ssky cct but t ths d exp hy me d g h vctres sip hrgh his gers His typicl ptte, espei e sed hf, s t py bry the peig lpse the midde gme, cme bc sesiay he gme crefl ysis f Spssky's rrrs shs tht he bsessed h excessve desire t ree This cespd hs ebrd prcemets ht he dd t t t
Psyholoy of Chess
89
i that he wated peace ad e lfe of an ordinary pe ar than the onerou burden of a ampion Indeed the atte of both chpions perited to e vey ed in h lat game Fiche et a pobable win ip thogh hi y a por edge Pawn move ( PR4), while Spay e chance for a draw by omitig aggeive ie (K-3) y that time he match wa pycologicaly over a it o rea dierence, yet it i iing how the uconscio i of o player remaied i evdece right down to lt ove interet ha been attached to the peronaity of the che : what nd of an individal i he Why doe he puue e What doe he get ot of it? A umber of year ago I ed to approach th qetion ia a carefu tudy of the o of the pat hundred year ouhly fro Staunto to ik t perod there were ine ocial word champio Thee dvided into hero chmpion and nonheo champo type i he oe lie Morphy Alehe Capablanca Ficher, who ue che to gratfy hi omnpotet i and in turn ued by e che amater a a ource jction for e amateur own fantaie of gradeur Typi e champion i uit p etrely out of proortio theey g he amater the feeing unnciousy that hrough ideti wi him he too can conque e word e pime example of s hero worhip in che tory i l ophy ( 836883) Since Morphy retirement from e fter ony a few year of acve ompetton, there ha de arguent about whee he cod dfeat the cu t ampio of a ater peiod Man people have toutly taed that he coud beat aybody ele who ever came m hat he wa the greatest of em all. Steinitz who fold Mophy afte a few year ( 8) wa the t butt of
90
The Pyers and the Seng
ths knd of atack In a long seres of artes e refuted 1 argument umercfully, but when feelngs rn hgh evde becomes rrelevant Too many people have had a stake n asseron that Morphy was the greatest of tem " obvio!] the stake derves from er wsh rough identcaton Morphy to do e same Actually orphys maor achievemet lay hs defeat Anderssen in a set match in 1 Shory ereafter he retr from chess lapsng nto an icreasgly barre paranoid con tion Eamation of his game shows at he was indeed we� ahead of his tme Where Anderssen and e other Ge masters of that day went in for wild attacks whch dsspa er resources, ke cavalrymen assaulng tan, Morphy pla a sold substantial game in whch the principles of modern p· tion pay came to the fore for the rst e But it was Sten who put these prncples into telligble form, populaz them through a series of outstandng books whch raised level of chess skil wel above what it had been befre An intriguing question arses wheer the level of play chess masters has show a progressve increase, or whethe reached a cerain pont after whi it dd not go any higher physcal spots there are objecv critea by hch such a qu on can be answered eg the tmes requred to rn 100 ya or swm 100 meters It s cear n the physical arena that abiltes of e oustandng champions e varous sports connually been ncreasng so that Olympic records are s tered every tme e events are held o sch objective crterion ests n chess The only wa approach e qeson s to subject the scores of the games intensive scrtiny When that s done, t would appear hat a highwate n the history of the game was probably reached wi orp and certanly with Steinit Knoledge of the opengs
T Pychology Css
9
andd normously and connus to do so, so that opning ay cannot protaly srv as a sourc o comparison But mid l am and ndgam play do not cang In accuracy of i calculations, in dp of i das and n c nss o ir ovrboard play bo Mophy and Stinitz r on a par with os who olowd m rncs in chss history li mor in th ncasing br of mastrs and xprts who play xcnt chss a in alibr of top champions Wh Mophy could sti giv OJ of his lading opponnts odds, that was no long possibl tn yars latr, and woud b totaly uninkab today It sms iy at as tm gos on, s procss wl acclrat, lading rthr incras in playing sngth of th avrag tournant comptitor and a contnual ris i quaity of th vr g tournamnt gam Sovit Union has arady shown how such a muliplican of powrul playrs can tak plac on an normous cal ih has allowd m produc n rstclass plays for v on in othr countris Yt wi all ths, tu gnius, such isr is not cratd t has alrady bn notd at th Sovit Unon which procd on nw nam aftr ano in 1950s sva of m wnt on to bcom world chapions bgan to giv way t or countris in th 9s s parallls a complaint had n thr lds of Sovt scinc, that wh many topght sarchrs ar producd y systm rstclass gnuss sm b missing n word of cauton should b trd hr: Th psychogica intprtations ord nd not and shuld not intfr i anyon's noymnt of chss f ischr bcoms mor ar o his psychological conicts it should improv his gam, n though many, caught up th hro worship typically tchd to such champions do not s how h could impov
92
T yers the Sing
No need the aerage payer stop payng chess becau noles agress wshes or symzes sexa power thr ctoy ese thngs are aacterstc o al hman actt greater or lesser degre; what s mportant s ony that th broght ot so that a person can make conscos choces nt o beng den by nconscous complsons
Part II
TE MATC
HPTE R 6
Review o the Match
ALT u G aed by any eors on both sdes th ost
nationa ath the hstory of hess ended a fuydeserved ctory for Fiser He has proved byond a doubt at he is best payer ave today roay e atch can be divde nto two parts wth a arkng nae. In the rst n gaes obby forged ahead cay n gaes thee to ten, whee he won ve ost none nd drew ree. Thus in spte of hs forfet n gae two and his under n gae one after en gaes e score stood 6Y to 3Y scher's favor. True Spasskys pay n this part was arked y incredbe bunders but his opnent knew how to take vantage of the. n the second part consisting of the ne ten gaes e ayers were even, the score beng one to one w eght daws. n ths part n one gae after another Fscher ade istakes hch shoud have cost h ose gaes but Spassky was nabe to push hoe to victory. Had passky payed as we n e rst part as he did in the second e na score woud have ee uch oser inay in e ast gae, Spassky ost ony ecause a draw as euvaent to a oss for hi at that pont n reospect then the atch was deided ainy by Sasskys uners uners in e rst haf eseay n aes ve sx eght an 95
96
The Match
ten Once Fscher was three points ahead he had the good se to coast to victory on a ong seies of draws ough most these were btterly fought to e ve end Undoubtey the circumstaces surrounding e mat m both players nervous, and eir play showed the strain. Ch wise te games re of rae poor caber Fischer was lost eight games from which he managed to escape wi draws one one case ca se a w win in ( games games fou fourr ten irteen, irteen, fourteen fte fte seventeen, eghteen and nineteen) A few of ese wns as games ten and thiteen are qute dicut to nd over e bo but e rest ae fairly easy. Ecept for game thirteen which s sawed back and forth unl Fische naly won afte he had given hs opponent a chance to raw, no games of eally nota stature were recorded Noneeless Fischer, in spite of his strange behavio o board, a consummate pragmatst on te bord The idea te game is to win and he won When aws were god enough he dew; when wins were bsoutely equired he uced em No dout Spassky cou do better, ut ere equaly no doubt that Fscher is the bette ove-teboard playe A detaied summary of e games usefu here GAME Queen's Gambit Decne a lealy awn psio Fiscer blnee Spasky w. Score: Fisce Spsky GME 2 Fscer feie peng: Ceser Fx Gamb Score Fscer Spasky 2 GME Beni Defe A bs innvai by Fscer s bay ae by Spassky, w s Scoe Fice Spassky 2 GME ScUa Defene Spsky ee a Pawn sacice n aa fer billia play e mise a an Fisc escape a aw Scoe: Fsce Spasky 2V GAME 5 NzInian Defense Terble penng play by Spass gav Fsce an ealy psina avanage. Bu Spass
ee of he ch
97
sil a a pbab aw wen e mae an rigt bner wc Fscer pmpy pnse Score: Fscer 21 Spassky 21 AM 6 Qeens Gambt Declne n an easily even psn Spassky mae an awfl psnal blner wc gave Fcer s can Score: Fiscer 1 Spassky 21 M 7 Sclian Defense; "psne Pawn varan scer g away wit te Pawn capre an sl ave wn t let Spassky slp Te variain was emlise t elevent game Spassky Score: Fscer AM 8 ngs nng n an appmately even psn Spassy pt te cange e re wic Fscer grabbe an wn Score: Fscer 5 Spassky AM Qeens Gambi Dene Fiser prce an imprve ment n ne f te Spassky-Petrsian games wc gave m easy eqaly Draw Score Fiscer 5 1 Spassky 1 AM O Ry Lz eqalze in e pening, en msse blnere n a an psitn a prbable win Brl Brlant ant atack by Fscer wn Score: Fsce 61 Spassy 1 A} Sian Defense pisne Pan variatn Innvan by Spassy, mpvemen ver Game 7 emlse Fscer Brllan b as vcry by Spassky Score: Fiscer 61 Spassy 1 A 2 Qeen's Gamb Dene eter se wante rsk mc fay ealy eqazain an aw Score Fiscer 7 Spassky 5 A leknes Defense Greaes game f e mac Brllian atack an eense by b ses g w a nmber f msakes Fscer nally wn etar1ary enng Score Fiscer 8 Spassky 5 Qeens Gamb Dene Pr penng play by Fsce an laer versg gave Spassky a early wn game wi e blnere away Frst f seven raws n wc Fcer case vcry Score Fiscer 81 Spassky 51
Matc
9 GME
5 Sician Defense. Brliant innovati by Spassky
GME
6
GME
7
GME
8
GME
GME ME 2 GME
2
molhed we-known ne played for many yeas midde game Spassky os his way Fischer coud won but bundered in hs u, game ending n draw Score Fischer Spsky 6 Ruy Lopez Fischer's favorte Exchange Variation neaty parred by Spassky innovain which equai quicky No rea win ever in sigh for eiher side Score Fischer Spassky 6 Pirc Defense. Fischer oupayed in he oning equaized hen ade incompehensibe misake Spa Exchange ahead in a probaby won ending aowe a draw by hreefod epeiion of posiion Score Ficher Spassky 7 Siciian Dense Compex midde game pay in w rs Fischer hen Spassky missed a wn Draw. Spassky 7 Sore Fischer Aekhes Defens Pr opening by Fischer ed o position. Spassky issed way aowing a draw Score Fischer Spassky Sician Defense. Eary equaizng ine by passky e nevenfu draw Scor Fischer Spassky 1 Siciian Defense ubio innovaion by Fise no e handed by Spassky In a draw positin whch w e less o him Spassky bundered and s
Score Score Fischer 2
Spassky 8
One of the ost erss ten fantases aoused by the at at Fsche was conductng a "wa of nees whch nally hnged Sassky ee s lttle to suot such a theoy Fsch elavely oo play dcate athe that he was unde cons tenson befe and dung e at, whch he coveed u constant colants At st these wee taken seiously, l ey wee sly gnoed. As lae as e seventeenth gae he aleady had the chaonsh vuay n hs ocket, Fs becae so enaged at the "nose that he booked assage ho
Rv of th Mtc
99
in e st game when inmed at Spass had esgned
er demanded n wrting B paes sered der the s stress which n attends chess a sch a hgh HIGHLIGHTS OF E MATCH e match n a wa be smmazed b recapang a ber cc psitins whch were tng pn n e s gmes Game No.
s psn is an e draw Ba maes an nrma me. BKRP?? and st. he entred n 29
T Mtch me N 3
TE: SPASSKY
Bk eem o he ome ou o e penng h poor ga Bobb e e age or muh o e er ah b play[ N41? he moe e doe no nd up el o n b hoed h bl o e k o Sp he u ould no maer oer e bord me No
TE: SCR
A Pn re b Sp led poon Wh 29h moe ere he old he on ih 29 Q Instead R? ong Fher o epe h a dra he pled 9
Reew th Matc
101
Game No. 5
WTE:
SPASSKY
ssk bldered w 27 Q-B2? llwg 27 B ch wo oe Afer e orml 27 QN he migh well e drw Game No
fte some slo oeg l whh he mssed seer nc fo esy eqlit Sssky ws fe wih s osio e orml 8 NB3 wold he le h w lyble B d e sted he relied wi he elr 18 qikly
02
T Match Game No
is posto whch approximatly v Spassky drd w 5 PQN4??, losg th Exchag aftr 6 R7 H dd ot ast og aftr that Game No
WTE: FISCR
posto whch Spassky coud hav qualzd ar Fischr playd th surprisig B-N111 which uxpctdy to powrful matg attack ad wo hadiy
Reew of th ac
103
Game No
poston came o o e "pooned Pawn varaon o
the Scan n wc ser ad caured te QNP w s
Sps obvosy we prepared reped 14 NN!! and ey became cear a Bac was os sers wors a n years Game No
WHITE SSSKY
ter a eroc seesaw bate n wc bo sdes ad mssed chan, s poson w reaed a ts sxynn move W RB3c We can now dra. Instead e payed 69 c?? and os
1
T Mtch
G N.
WE FSCR
t ked as thugh Spass was gng t se a easy afte a bunde by Fshe ad st h a Paw stea payed 7 PB3?? t whh Fshe epied BP, egai the Paw ad dawng he gae
G N
WfE: SPASS
A wepepaed nan the Sia Defese Spass a Pawn and a stng psn A e had d tnue he pessue by dubng the Qe stead he tued a dangeus ata with 2 P-K5? Afe a wid ee wh bth sdes ssed hanes a daw a esuted
R of th Mtch
105
G N
WTE SPASSK
this posio, which jont gv him mpl m to l Spsky h th Exhng for Pwn. Vrious winig hv b suggst, thogh is ot sy nst h hrfol rpio of posio ftr t g rsum to immit rw G N.
WTE: CR
R-Q I this positio Spsky shol hv p 34 ueg powrful tk Ins h rspo QxP? ig to rw
1
T Mat
G N
TE: SPASS
soppy opnn py by isch Spssky ch poson s su of som briln cn mos Wi B7 cou h won I h py 2 PxP? s l· in Fisch w
G N
TE SASS
isch sms o h s p poson p h which is opponn fs wih 14 BxN. B ws 14 BK5 n
Part III
E GAMES
A M E 1
Bob ' Fir t (and La t?) Blner Ju 11 197 Spky
B F
Queen's Gmbit Dclined NKB3 PK3 Tougout Bobby out _o o bg up. H uu y 2 P-KN3 u mu pp o 3 NKB3 PQ4 N-B3 Co py 4 BN5 g to t o o Qu' Gmb D mo ggi Pp t pmy ig bot i w uouy 4 B-N5 g omptio? PK3 A 5 BN5 P; 6 P-K4 oom o o o pp yi wi bo py ig o o
1 PQ4 2 PQB4
00
1
Th s
10
B3 Mor orcu 6 3 or n 6 Bxch 7 n hn 7 B4 8 x Kx 9 B3 wih s rssur
B4 hosin s quzon. ln s n which Bbby on ply bor wh sccs 00 B3 B4 8 3 Mninin h nsion 8 Bx 9 B spls ' prbl
Bys Fi a Bl
111
9 N2 Hpig t b u an aack The ateves ae I. 9 PxQP 10 xP BN; 11 N-Q2; 12 PQR4, NP 13 B-R3 3 14 NQ4 B-N2 an Back is ae II 9 QB2 PxQP xP PxP 11 BP, NxP 12 NxN QxN an Whte h noing e a QPxP 0 BxP BN3! 11 BB2 12 QQ3 ng a simcaon 10 s avorable QxQ PxP BP 2 Q e eng s eve Whites slight iniave easiy equalize
P-QN4 B2 4 BN2 1 P-N5 N-R oes not ead anyhere 4 B2 A sght imovemet o 14 PQN3 15 NB BN2 16 5 n hch White got e better o it (Sassky-Kogs g, 1958 ) QB
112
Th Gs
Not 15 BxN? BxB 16 RB BR Nor does doubing Roo the Qe ean ang after 15 R-Q2 KRQ 16 QL BK White s has noing. 5 KRQ 6 N2)- Sassky is ntent to simify sice ere no good altea
NxN 6 7 NxN BR5 8 BN3 BB RxRch 9 NxB RQB 20 RxR With an evena iew to R-B7 Bt White has an defense Under norm circsances ay two masters agree to a draw in osion ut these are anything noa circstances 2 KB KB 21 RB7 RQ2 22 KK2 NK5 Now he does reaten RB7ch
Bbbs Fi a L Bl
23 QB R B PB N5 N-Q KQ BQ 27 N-B4 Ey Sps qit sas to otris h ight NNB5 or Q4 27 BB2 BN 28 NN 29 PN5
114
Te s
29 BKRP?? vey begne ow at a blune, an t oe o why Bobby o t? Aftear Fche tol me that micclate n that afte 30 PN3, PKR4 31 K PR5 32 KB3, PR he col ecape but oveloon K whch ap te Bhop thnk tat a pycholoc elanaon more Bobby i out to how that he c make what eveyboy conie mpoble move cauht up n fantay h not caclate poperly At the ame me t the t blr of many the match. 30 PN3 PKR4 Trying to rece te Bihop If intea 30 KK2 31 P-R4. KQ3 32 BR3 KK4 not 32 KQ4 33 PK4ch, K PB4 mate) PK4 PN4 34 BN2 KQ 35 BP P-NS; BQ4 PN3 37 KK2 PKR4 3 KB PR5 39 KN 3 KK2 PR5 32 KB3 KK2 e cannot pay 32 PR KN4 anpoing t vaiaon n the note to Black 29th move PxP 33 KN2 BP 35 KxB
Bobbys ir a ) Blr
11
oy two Paw or the iece Bobby's ony chance is to e Qse ast KQ 36 PR4 ky must s ay carey I 6 PK4?, K-4; d now 4? KN5 actualy loses Whte mus lay o the daw B-Kch, K; 8 BxP PK4 9 BN8 K 40 KB ' nd daws; Whte's Bsho is o the wong coo o the
36 37 B-R
KQ4
37 KK5? e essre he chooses the weake move thugh 7 so oses against exact lay te 7 KB e main \on s 8 BB8, an now: 8 KN6; 9 BxP PR4; 41 BxP KN4 BQ4 w) 0 6 PxP 40 41 B, P-N4 K-B4, PN5 KK PN6; K KR6; 4 PN7 xPch, KxB; 47 KQ and 8 PN; 9 B P-B4; KB4, KN6 41 PR5 P-N6, R; 4 KK, KxP BQ8 KN5 ( BxP, K PR4 47 P wns easiy enough) P-R4 K-B6, P-R 47 K PR6 K P-R7 49 B nd wins
116
The Gs
Vao commenao have lamed a da o Fe abo Ahogh he cod have done a le bee F od me afead no eal da a avaabe 38 BB5
may be ha Bobby ovelooked he eng of fo f 8 PQN BxP n a once nce afe PxB 40 P-R5 Whe qeen 40 PxP; 41 PN6 KQ4 41 PR6 38 PR3 39 P-N6 PB4 Now ee no longe any eal chance. 4 KR4 P-B5 e adjoed poon Black cealy lo Sme commenao have caed ha KQ4 hee b h ncoec, fo afe 41 BB KB P-R5 KN4; 4 BxP KxP 4 KN5 KxP 45 KB6 KB4 46 KxP enough. 4 PxP
Bbbys Fi a L?) Blue
7
B4 42 KR5 BK KK4 I Back oes after te Bisop wi KK5 BB2 4 Wite wis by oi over to te Qse: 45 KN6 KB6; R4 PK5; 47 PK6 4 KB6 PK7; 49 KK6 K-N7 Q6 KB 51 KB7 etc 44 BB2 KN6 was simper bt e tex is qite adeqate 4 KB4 B-R4 PK4 BN5 omewere arod ere came te expected teevisio vara . Fiscer ot p from e board ad et te room for abot a or Later t w eed tat e ad bee demad e remoa o apparts ad cameras from te room At tis t it ooked as to e w idi p a abi for is oss in e rst ame ater t became mc more serios P-K B 47 BK KK4 KN4 KQ4 KN5 KB5
Te Ges
oer Pawn must go. Black is obviously lost 50 PR4 5 BB2 He mst sill avoid 5 BQ2 K-B 52 BP PK6 5 K PK7 and dras since ite will remain only with the a the Bisho o e wrong color 5 PN4 KB5 52 KP K-N5 K-B5 Againt 5 KQ6 54 BK and K-K6 bot in e 4 K-N4 KQ5 56 KQ6 Resis e NP mst go
AME 2
T Noa Ju 13 1972
Fcher
BLC
Sass
her resed to aear and lost te game by forfeit One had hm seclded in is room frios wth the telehone t o the wa resg to talk o anybody srrondng tis game are srely e most tragic s n the hsory of hess After hs loss in the rst game B demanded hat a cameras and televsion eqment be ed from the room on the gronds that the noise dstracted o m. Mr. Cheser Fo o the Chester o lm or who had contracted for he lm rgt and hs lawyer then ed a sond engneer to test the hal and reort on how h nose the cameras actally were making. The rert came hat hey made no noise at a Cr Badrsson ead o e g dvison of the Reykjavk nttUte of Pblc Health who ne he siaon stated that e nose leve o the hall was ecibes withot the cameras n acon and eacty the sae cibes wth the camer working The cameras dden in ator shaft were nvsble ecet or the lenses at a nch re as reored tha e o m Cor and the Icandic s ederaon had a contract or e mng of the match e lm rodcer had invested a sbstantial sm of money 19
1
T G
If the lmng were dsconnued the producer threaened s Bobby for damages ndauned by al hese raonal and mundane consdera Bobby sulked n hs room repeag only hs demand a cameras be remved A the apponted me when he did show up his cock w started and dsplayed on the sc alowng he audience to see clock cng Aer an ho his nonsense he was oreted New doub now ensued about whether the match would · nue ot oly did Bobby want a the cameras removed addiion he wanted e ore rescnded Euwe washed hs a o the whoe saying that the mit had been passed Sc the reeree refused to take any acon. Nobody seemed o be abe to inuence te erraic ge Kmoch dean o chess critics commened a meca's gea payer ued ou o be a stbbo te boy. Bobby's si Mrs Joan Targ arrved but even ths was made nto a my by hal denyng a she was there Lawyers seconds rind ied to get to Boby securey ensconced n hs hote room only reply was to book passage on tree ghts out o Icean Sunday. Some commentators wondered whether it was ches Russan roulette. T Ne Yok Tis edioralzed on "B Fschers Tragedy Wheer Kissnger stepped n agan s known. For whaever reason on Snday Bobby suddey changed mnd agan Faced wth e oss of e mach whch woud ha meant the end o h chess career he agreed to a compro: e ird game woud be payed n a private room wt cameras or To his regre Spass resraning his aggress too much agreed o the same compromise. Had Spassk areed the match mh have ended then and there.
AME 3
Bo b Expos, This Tie Extraordi Move
Jul 16 1972
Sp
B
Benoni Gbit Deferred P4 2 PB4 3 NKB 4 P5 PP NB3
NKB3 3 PB4 P-3 PKN
12
Fer
1
h Gams
This vion once consideed so bd s to be unply h been ehbilitted in the st twen es It oes nd shp countettc whi ws just wht Bobb ne But wh id White ccept such two-edged vion wi points to the good? It m wel be tht b this time Spssy decided tht his opponent is too f one to p decent He in fo get supise 7 N-Q Loses time; the nchetto stonge nd gene ed n dvntge fo Whte It m be tht Sps feed ped vtion hee But he is ed pving e w tpicl bunde: the lss a 7 QNQ If st 7 B-N; 8 N-B4 thetens BB4 8 PK4 If now 8 NB4 N-N3 8 BN 9 BK Stonge hee is the clssic ine 9 PKN3 00 0 BN, R 11 0-0 ReinfedReshevs Minnepois 93). 9 � RK 0 00 Q-B Now Whtes Bishop is somewht wwdl pced. The tet move oveprotects the KP lowing Whites p to move moe fee.
A Bmb
12
11 -? bomb The aeaive quie ines, such as 1 3 ead o draws a bes 12 BxN e s nohing bee I 12 P-B3?, B-Qch; 13 , N-Nch!; , Q-N and mae canno be avoided nd i 2 P-B, ch 13 , Q 1 -B3, N(2)B wh a powe k 12 PB 13 NB? mid ad nconsisen coninaon Thee were wo mo u connaions I 13 P-B!, BQch; 1 R, NB3 Q-; 1 N-B3 now eads nowhee 1 NN, B- QP, QN; 7 N-B, Q-2; 18 NxB, NxP; PB! wih og posiiona advaage I. 13 NQ, N; 1 N3, 1 N2)B, NN; NxN, PxN; 1 B-Q2 and Whie aed Gigoic-avae, Sopj, 72 1 N 4 N-3 1 BQ2? his is aogehr o o pace, since aows Bac o ube is Pawn The more ogica P3 (now 1 B ess eecve), N-N3; 1 P-N3, QR 17 QN2 s sl abe o Whie
24
T s
Prhas h was rying o m him ino h saric 5 NB6h 6 PN BK4 bu ar 7 KK th Whi Kin asiy sa 15 N-N5 PN NN 7 BB4 To rvnt B-K4 7 QB 8 P-KN? or misa tr ch h into a oss baus h i oaon o th With QQ2 PQ 9 P PN 20 PB h can y o rot rom th anss Blaks awns 8 BQ2 PN 9 PQ4
A Bo Exps
25
hite is sraegicaly los. KRK? esignig himself to assive lay the sychoogy of e re PB sll oered soe hoe PQR N4 21 RK2 22 QRK e atet o exchange Roos 22 xP PxP 2 RxR old eave Blak i to mch iniave o e Qside QN erise 2 PK5 might be f sme vale RK2 P-N 2 4 Q-Q3 RN PxP 2
126
Te aes
PN4 Hopng o block the poson I ead 26 R-R2, 27 NN, B-N; Q-B2 QRK; 2 NQ2 PB4 w PB5 PxP?; 2 NR2. Naually no 26 QRK 27 QQ2 Now he acally solaed can be aken almos a The dea s o ake wou vng Whie any counerpla RK3 A wang moe; there s nong ha he can do The ale ve 28 B-K3, BxN 2 QxB, RxP; R-2 Q-B4 lkewse no hold ou much hope though s bee han the e 28 P-R4 KR2 29 R( 3 K2 No doub o gan me 2 BxN a once s also poss lae on n the game KN 0 R-K3 BxN 3 R(3)K2 32 QxB RxR 33 RxR QxR 4 RxR
A Bob E
27
35 B6 ee s no gd deense I 5 QB6, BB4; 6 QN5ch, BN; BP KR2 8 QB, QB6 and Wte s elpess aganst BK5 35 QN3 3 BB Hopng o BN2 36 QN 37 KB ee s n cance n 37 PB4 PP ep 8 KB2 QK5. I n 39 QK QP QN5 QQ 41 BxQ BB; te endng on, n spe te opposte coloed Bshops BB4 37 38 KK2 me presse, bt tee as notng to be done anyo QK5 39 QK3 o at 39 QP; QN5c QB7ch 9 4 QQ2 40 KK PB6 s eqaly opeess 4 41 QQ4
128
Te Ges
Th adjod poion I instd 41 QN5ch B-3. 4 BQ6ch
Rig Atr K-K3 Q-Q8 Wht i hp: i B-N2 QK K-B4, Q-Q7ch; QK3, QxB or Q-N2 QB6ch; K ( o 44 KQ2, QxPch; K-B3 QK8ch; 46 BQ2, Q-K4 me) Q-K5ch; 45 K-B3, QK4ch; 46 K-Q2, PB6ch; 47 QxP Q-K7 ma.
G
Sp M1:e Win Juy 18, 1972 m
scher
BC:
Spassy
Siciian Deense -K4 -QB4 se n the match with etrosan Fscher consstenty e aganst the Scan whch he seems to ow by hear asky aso has a srprse n tore for m 2 N-KB3 P-Q3 PP PQ4 4 NxP NKB3 5 N-QB3 NB later ame ( #7 Fscher tred e noncommtta 5 ·R now often referred to as the Najdof Varaton The ed Pawn" varaon whch he chose was meclessly Shed by Spassy n the 11 ame 6 B-QB4 One of Bobby's favorte nes fact a ne that he helped to e The older 6 BK s aso qte ston for te At e I expermented wit e varaton N(4 )-K followed N3 w consderabe success neNajdorf New Yor
9
1
T Gs
130
P3 Mre lgical hee the achett, bt ate 6 P$ 7 B3, BN2 8 PB3, 00; 9 Q·Q2 the gae taes ver t hich passy des t see t elish. This vra � plyed gret deal e BtviiSyslv atches. he has seig ese p sleeve 7 BN3 Frestaig PQ4 B2 8 B3 PQ3 9 T achet the QB ad bg pressre t bear White NN 0 PB4 PQ4 BN PN5 Threateig t Pa th B2 2 PQR3 13
Q-Q3
T rtect the
S a
131
a oo with a slight edge to Wite who is theateig id u a attac with 5 13 Q4 neeced sacce: e smell o midnigt oil is song. now gets a strg iiave or a Pawn. 14 PK5 4 Q 3 and 4 N NP oth wit advantage to l> PP 14 N-Q2 15 PP N4 16 NP 17 N i 1 QK2 N 18 PN Q-Q4 ovehelmig. 17 c Q-N4 18 K y is out to win. ey draw was vaiale with 8 x; 19 PQ 3. QQ 19 QK2
32
Te Ges
After seies of forced move Blck hs come ot i powefl tck fo the Pwn. A st sight in fc Whi lost bt Bobby ps p n heroic defese The immedie J of cose s RQ 20 QRQ Moe o les foced If he ties to et he Pn mme· wth 20 NQ6 BxN 2 PxB, 22 QRQ KRQ gies Blci commnd of the Qle becse of the the gint White's � 20 RxR? The ppose of this in-beteen moe not cler; r\ 20 PR4 t once? If then 21 RxR RxR 22 N-Q B\! 2 PxB nd gin R-Q is not possible nd if 21 : t once, BR 22 B-B4 P-KR5 2 PR3 ( s n the gme) B-K QN4 QxP nd w since Whites Kight is now nde After 20 PR4 he bet seems to be 21 B-B4 PKR; BQ3 PR6 2 B-K4 QxP; NB3 ( if 24 B-Rch?, B QxQ, PxP mte!) PxPch QxP (f BxP QxQ B-R3 n the mn vriton) BR3 RxR RxR; 2 R KB! ith tong pee eg QR3 RQ 29 QR8 K 30 QR4ch P-N4 31 Q-N3 BQ3 nd Whte i lost PR4 2
Spassky Misses a Wn
22 NQ6? her of Bobbys msaes n he match Ths is the oter he ede probem improper cenraizaton Since the ha to et bac o KB3 t would have been beter to do so -K5 2 NB3 QB5; e wih N-Q4. I hen 22 B4 an adequate defee 22 B- K5 t s quite dicut to see a ay out aans BB4 of too passve a deense but no nmedate win s QN6 ; or Bac ater 2 3 K ( threaenin 3 The te shoud have lot quicy 23 K5 -3
1
Te
Pag to retu e Paw after QN QxKP; NxB, sice Whites Quee s ow defeded BK! 25 QN4 He does ot wat to ay assvey but he reay has o better a BQ3 BB; NK4, QxP; 27 RKB QxP 25 The temg QQ PQ, R6 s ot as good 27 BB, P!; 28 KR2! Ba ca of course regai his but o more 26 QxRP There s othg better ow If 26 BK2 PB4 27QxRP, wig a ece PN4 26 27 QN4 I 27 QK, P-N eaves hite deeseess
27 BB4 this etraordiariy comcated osiio Sassy begi go asay The correct cotiuao w 27 KN2 at reateig RR Whte must the ay 28 B-B 28 RR ad ow 28 RQ; 29 NB4 RxR; 30 QxR NQ, Bch 31 KR2, B-Bch 32 PN3 RR8 mate Q-6
Spass Mses a Wn
B i 3 QN4 Bxch; 32 xB Q-K8ch), QxRch 32 K-N Qch; KR, QB7 ad Whte i st, e.g P-N4, PP; K-N3; 36 PB4 PB4 37 P, PN5 PN5 Q-R5ch -N N6 e cats ae aasc, hch s pehaps hy e pefeed play me sply If e.g the agaed R-Q; NxP, RxR; 29 QxR QN ( 29 27 QK5 Q-KB); 30 N-6ch ( cast QQ8ch, K-N2 8ch KxN s f Black), ad Back actay ses: K-N2; 3 Q-Q7ch, KxN; 32 QxPch, KN2; Q-B7ch K-R3; 34 Q-B8ch etc. NN5 get ack t KB3 28 KN2 NQ4
29 RR? Mssg a g chace It s te that �te 9 BQ3! 30 N-B5 ces a da, t st 29 RQ; P�B 30 Nxch, xN 3 RxR Q-K8c Whe e ated) RR (s t BQ3; N-B5) d ate B3 BxN; 32 QxB, BQ3 Whte ca ge spy h (Q)B3 he est deese s 3 RKB R5; 32 N-B5ch xN; 33 RxQ, Rx 34 RxB, B-B6 3 BB,
Te Gs
36
ch; 3 KN KB3 Now the dvce of Blcs KP should prv decsive ecuse o the cocomitt mti threts BxN 0 NB3 Tere o ltetive sice White is threte Qx BQ3 31 QB
2 QB3 Now this smco seres e drw 32
33 PxQ e teve 33 lso ood eouh 4 Q7 5 KN
QxQ
BK4 BxP; , BN; xP K KB3 BxP
Spassky Msses a Wn
13
e rest i esy. Bth sides see ev reuctt t gree to but there othig to be doe BK4 6 BK2 B 37 KB -B2 38 B- Bx 39 x KK2 4 PQ4 PB4 4 K-K2 BK4 42 K-3 KQ3 PB4 BN6 44 BB 45 P-B Draw
M E 5
Spa ' Blnr Jy 21 1972 o far th gams hav rodd along largly xptd waknss by Fish in th rst, by assky th thr hardfought daw in th fourth But now oms an unantii slump by hampion, in whih h loss four out of th nt x gams by blundrs Many xplaatons hav bn ord for passkys slump s tat shr's antis nally got to hm Tru nough aftr fourth ga Bobby submitd thrtn ( or fourtn? poins math organizrs no doubt in imtaon of ilso's fa foun points Among Bobbys dmands wr th ght xlusv us of swimng ool n hotl quik a Amran publao ( ould ths oivably hav bn d to hm?? ad th ight to giv or wthhold prmsson in wi for us of amras in playing room As usual thr th thrat ral or impid that hs dmands wr not mt just go rght hom In any s th ommtt rtd s dmands out of hand and whol indnt, xpt fr rurrnt quson of amrs and was forgott sh had that th story of th foutn points had lasd to th prss, h rpld wth hs standard ompli: "v bn stabb in th bak Th only provoaton that rmaind was that hr bga om lat to vry gam. is ost hm btwn v and
Spss Bls
13
es on hs oc but deonsaed a certai obvious con or his oppoe as ouh to say: I spoted you a whoe e he score and now I a spon you e nutes on ae Althouh is behaior hu Fischer ore an sy, the chapion sees o have becoe rated ad in e aes he oo bea to coe ate! A however, woud ot expa Spassys errbe pay in s sixae setch hatever h reason Fischer oo advan o every oppouny ad aer he eh ae Bobby aleay yed a coandin ead eve w one ae oreied
Spassy
BC:
Fscer
NimzIndin Deense P-Q4 KB3 P-K3 2 PQB4 B QB3 s aractersc o Bobby ha e wl rarey e his opponen icipate wha ope vaaon he choose. Hence he reects Beno Deeed 3 P-B4 wc aed such a va nt i the ird ae Hs open repeore s so eorous he ca easiy cse enouh eren varaons or a ah; ssy by corast s uch ore lited 4 B3 rather wea reonder he s o to y e ine payed old do beter to contiue w P-K3 and K2 avod he aen of his Paws P-B4 4 5 PK3 -B3
140
Te s
6 B-Q3? Me chess erates ery largely by transsitin Sassky ats a weak ine which ha been rejecte frty ag Necessary was 6 BQ2 r 6 Q-N3 6 BNch 7 PB P-3 Cnslatng his h n the Qs 8 P-K? Anther wea me he best try is 8 NQ2 00 9 3, -QN3 10 -B wth sme ssibities f cunterlay Kse But n a famus game wth s aratin Bt Reshes Wl Chaminsh 948 e Set chami cmetely utlaye an lst 8 P-K4 9 Q5 Ths emature cng is base n an ereauatn t sacrice he s abut t er. Better s 9 00 at nce lckn center y when frce t s 9 NK2 f nstea 9 N-QR4 at nce 0 BN5 an then 0 -KR3 B-R4 -KN4 2 NxNP ges Whte strng la
S Bl
0 N-4 that 0 N-N3 N-B 0 PK3 PB4 he sacce he had n mind I in rey Px BxP 3 P-K! with a strng aac White wh s stategicay t aleady has t rey n tray variatins t maintain his ances NN3 Bbby avds the cmicatins. e tex the srategcay a mve enisaging the wn engame n the Qside 2 NxN gica rbaby becase he nderesmates hw ba his e actay is Smewhat mre he is NB xN 13 B NxBP BxN Px Q-K2ch QK2; QxQch Q K White's engame w be ery weak becase Bac n qcy occy the sqae at K wth his Knight bt t wld east be better than what he gets the ge PxN 2 PxP 3 PxP 4 B-K3 N3 5 00 0
The s
It bvis w that Sassy ha bee cmetey uta ite shd be abe d much beter ater teen mvs t t have an nferir sn where he can a best draw P-Q4 6 P-Q4 He mst t aw P5 7 N B-Q 8 N aneuveri t et it a srner sitn Bac has a ay but whether he ca rce a r t s st a questn 19 Q-KB QK B-B T ree e Qee 20 PKN4 2 B-Q2 QK 22 BK Hn at east te Bacs Qun dw with a ater BK 22 Q- Chae hm t try
S Bl
13
23 QQ3 Icotet He ca ti t 2 RB3 to pay BKN3) BN xN BxQ RQ RxRch KR BxB RK ot N3, RBch KK RB3 ) BxRP B-N3 wi a probaby aw edgame N-R RxRch RxR KxR RxRch 26 BQ Te pede to a bude e B-KN3 NB BxN NP BQ White at east ome conterpay 26 NB Z Q
1
Te
Loses immedatey fter 27 Q-N Back mst stl demonstt the win 27 P Obvo and decisve I 28 QB QP reatening both t sho and mate at N7 wns at once Resigns
GA
ME
Bori Godno? July 23 1972 apologies to the eminent music critic Harold Schonerg sparing comments on the games graced The New k every day we orow the aove caption or the present Here as so oten Spass comes out o the opening wth y ovios esy equality Then Boy poses some nepected mand he apses So the question remas: is he good h, or he o om
Fischer
BC
Spassy
een's Gmbit Decline (by trnsposition) QB4 2 NKB3 3 Q4 4 B3 e tried path In other games ischer eat success
K3 Q4 -KB3 BK payed 4
�
s �
6 -K3
5
B-5
146
The me
A traditinal pin e Qeen Gabit Declin been reached by tranpin. 6 PKR3 The alteative QQ2 wa played t death n AlekhineCapabanca match f 127 and ha never been r Perhap Spky wa araid e prepared variatin e text i a weakenig mve, which White de nt prperly If he ging t play PQ3 he huld d s • nce Laker Defene, 6 K5 i al qite ipl unreuted 7 BR4 Much haper i 7 BB4 and then 7 P-B4; 8 RB L\ BP a trng initiave eg 8 PQ3 Q5 r 8 KPP PP BxBP, B3; QN5; 2 K5, i better f it 7 PQN3 And here again 7 K5 i the implet rad t 8 PxP Bbby d nt exert hiel t ngy t get e be 6 the pening hi real rt cme later 8 xP BxB QxB 0 x Px RB
Is Bo odnov?
P-B4 prevent inconsstent, snce 11 t t shod be adequate.
147
BK3 BN2 seems moe nata
t st sgt te seems t have obtaned nothg om te Ji: Blacs pec e easoably "el develoed and hs wesses on e Qsde do not ape t be seous 2 QR4 Ing e essue t i ea no at the Bla Bso s at K 2 PQB4 Q-R Sttng u a dangeo pn ganst e Black QB RB 3 Wie not exacy osng, ass's lay i comletely e e smlest defense 1 NQ2; and f 14 BN5 ! f en 15 PxP and no QxBP QxQ; 7 RxQ QRN; 18 NQ4 P; 19 BxP th an mmedat a QRB; 17 RxR ( 17 PQN4 RxR; 18 PxR R-B) ! 18 Px RxR and hte must lay 19 hen agan � RB7 gv easy equalty
148
The me
4 BN5 To force a eaening on the Qside The move was rt in a game urman-eer Soviet team championship 1 4 P3 This deserves a queson mar, not because it is s te wea as such, but because Spassy replies wth so itte It is obviously desirable to ift the tension surrounding e as soon possible With this in mind he could have playe one of a number of freeing moves, such as 14 Q o 14 Q-B2 (threatenig PB5) Even the routine 4 N-Q2 w qute adequate, eg 15 BN, QB and e Pa not be captured 14 NQ2 15 , N-B3 16 B mntn the pressure ) ad now 16 P-3; 17 B-Q3, 18 PP, PP 1 KB, PB5 B-K2, QB4 and Wht nothing 5 PP PP Apparently without thining, yet there were several g aternaves e most intriguing is 5 PQ5 and if BQ4 17 B-B ( ater 17 BK2, BNP 18 KN, BK5 1 QB3 White has nothing) , PP 18 NN3, N-Q2 and the ata certainy worth a Pawn But even the imediate 1 2 was better, since W has nothing better tha 16 B-K2, PxP 17 , N-Q2 18
s Bo odnov?
149
4 f o 19 NN3 P-B 20 ; 21 N (2)B2 d here 19 NB istead f 19 N-N3) PN; 20 PB4 N-2 te ha othng
6 00 -2 oe loy With 16 N2 he ca aai ubloc f 17 B-4 N3 1 B -2; 19 ) -B PB ad agai ite has otig N-2 7 BK2 8 N4
B ? 8 icredie move Agait the atural 1 NB3 White tig nce 19 NN PB; x; 1 N-4 afe
5
The ames
2 R5, RB4; PQ4, R-B e Knigh is suc, K5 PB3 -Q3 es eough o hde pic e bud eea. P B PK4 Tpicl Bobb: suddel he posiio is opeed p emerges wih srog c PQ5? 20 Good, bd or diee he hd o l PP cod ollow 2 B-B4, QK2 22 Q-K3 B3 2 P-Q4 wih ied pressure bu er 2 KR es he c sll de himse. Aer he e he os 2 P-B4 Q-K2 22 PK5
Blcs weess o he Whie squres is ow decisive. R 22 Beer ws 22 KR oce so i e 2 BB4 Bu Whe c epl 23 QQ3 geig o posiios simlr o gme or i 23 3; 2 Q-K4 d BQ3 decisive. BB4 KR Q N-N3?; 2 QxBPI ( 2 Forced, o i o 23 BPch QR3
Is Bs du?
151
he NP unoran NB ere s no good deense I 2 ; BKP PQ6; Q PQ7 27 QQB R(N2; B3 s decsve 25 PQN3
assy h been maneuvered ino � a hoeessy craed os ; e res easy or Bbby P-R4 25 oing or some cunerlay on e Qside bu even he go oo o R7 i woud no maer 26 P-B5 Z P hreaenig B7 or P-K6 2 2 7 28 QKB nng e Queen wih RB7 is oo lie reward i such a o QN hreaeing QN6 and BQ3. ere is no good deense
2
T as
0 P-KR4 R()N2 3 P-K6 R(N2)-B2 32 QK 32 QN6 Q-K i t or optd 32 QK 3 P-R4 A witg oe; he ud h proceded directy wh B he doe er QQ 34 R()B2 QK Bc i reduced o compee piiy 35 R(2)B3 QQ 6 BQ3 Now e brekhrough begi 36 Q-K 37 QK4 For ow 37 RB8h d to e 37 NB3 38 xN PxR K-N K-R 40 BB4 Rei 4 QB4 e poo hopee. I 41 KN QRP d Bl do ohg gi e thr of R-Nh R-N2 P di ch
A ale Ro al
Jul 25 1972 game i b ar the hadet ought o the match o ar. r a bod oening gambit in which Fie gobbed u one hi amou oione Pa" S mount a igoou ck. By lu deene Bobby he ide Then i i hi to be caee ad he et a wi i ough hi nge. But mut be gie ul credit or the ay in which he ayed a Pawn dow
Sa
BC:
Fiche
Sicilin Defense P4 ring Bobby oening PQB4 2 NB3 PQ3 x 3 Q4 4 NxP N-B3 Q3 5 NQB3 e Naor Variation eaig Back eedo o choice 6 BN5
15
The mes
In the fouh gae whch also eded a draw, Bobby his favorte BQB PK3 6 7 PB
e usual ine ow s BK2 8 QB3 wth strong sea ne whch Boy himsef has often sed to good ad tage Spassky sed is well n the 15th game 7 QN3? A oedged eply whch met ts refutato n the th g Boby however had up to at pot frequently played e wth success 8 Q-Q2 8 NN3, QK6ch s ovosly ad 8 QP He wlng to take the pooed Pawn Whateve aa exsts of otherwse oscre varato has come out of sourc yet sprsgy the Amerca ses to e more with t tha the Rssan Aother eample of how victory made Spsky too complacet Bt he takes his revenge fo games later NN3
A B Royl
155
e eutation is 9 N-N3 Q-R6; 10 BxN as in the eleven But also moe dynaic than th text is 9 RQN, QR6; 5 PxP 11 PxP KNQ2 2 BK2, o 12 NxP; wins te 12 QB4 13 N-QB3 14 BK3 5 NxN P 16 B-B3 Blacs ame is quite dicult, in e o his two Pawns plu_s. QR6 9
BQ tmoem analysis eveaed a much sone line whi y was ien a chance to play wi devastatin eect in the enth ame. 10 P-K5, PxP 11 PxP KNQ2 12 BQ3 BK2 is gd enouh o Blac. 0 BK2 PR ll ths was played aily quicly by both sdes so it ust been pepaed NxP 2 B-R4 BxB 3 NxN
156
The m
White is ow two Pawns own; lack is pooy evelope has o cea-ct weaesses It emais to be see how Spa will cotie e atta 4 P-5 Peeig cig agast which 15 P6 woul e too po ful eg 15 P-Q; 6 PxP (ele 7 QxP) 7 Q d 17 QK2; 18 Q-Nch K 1 Q-5 with a sog at If at oce 1 N5ch, Px 6 NxPch K- mch as i t game. 4 PP e accepts the challege 5 -N5ch Afte this he attack petes out yet o goo alteatie see ale If 15 Q- lack ca y 1 PxN 16 Qx K-Q; 7 QxKNP K; 18 , N-Q2 a it is ot cea h White ca make p fo his hge mateia ecit O 15 Q- K2 6 N3, ack ao seems to hol 5 PxB oy does ot elish 5 KK2 16 6 NxPch K- K-Q? 7 NxNP(5)is ch etg the piece: i 6 the Qee 3 7 Nx
A Ba Rya
15
e i boud o ega a eas oe Paw ad s be ef sog ave 8 NQ6 ee s og bee A ppaey good y s 8 QQ PKN3 d ow 1 P-N w compcaos b fe -N 0 PP N-K; QP ) QRN PP QK Whes aga comes o h 8 • R-Q 1 NP(N5) Q-K2 PKN3 20 Q-B ack a Paw o e good i cosodg hs poso 21 P-R opg f pay o e QN e B-N 2 BK6ch 22 QB PB5 23 KR P-N 24 PN3 25 QRK
15
The mes
Spay aain eem t e idn twa an atta By decide t impl QN5 QQ f 6 QK QK5ch 26 NQ R T ptect the BP -N Blac ha held n t h Paw Fche later epee feeln that he me a n here a that deed the PN3 28 NR5! NQ4 N4 Mantan eve 30 N(4)Q6 Threaten P-B4 an N5ch. 30 B-B4 ere he de e t pay ndecvely Smper ad eecve wa N3 en 31 PB4 NB3 ad lt
A Ba Roya
15
RQB 31 NN7 Songes s 31 K6 hough he aeady has heas RQ2 32 B P 33 R-Q2 PP PP KRQ Q N-N3 RR RR 37 RR R; 38 PR5 nd Back o e o da he edg 2 P-B4 N-K6 3 RB3 Teaenng o n a P 3 NP F once Bobby sgh me pessue Bu hee s nong 34 PP PN5 35 R-Q3 PR4
60
The mes
36 PR3 Wth s ngeos move he hods for a while for i PB4 37 RQ7ch KB3 38 N7)Q6 gves Wh better of t N-R4 6 After is wea move the w s o loger clear Corr w 36 KRK d f ow 37 R-KN, RK8ch 38 KR P Oce agai the error is a wea edge move n cotr t strog cetrazato BxN 37 N7)Q6 R-B8ch 3 NxB N-B5 3 K-N K-N3 N-K8!
The adjoed posito Spassy too 45 mintes to se move but foud e most ngeous way out 4 P-R4 If stead 4 RQ, R-B6! is too strog sce N threates both e Roo ad the Kight at Whte's K8 R-Nch K-R3 43 N-B6 RxP! N-N8ch RxN 45 N 46 K-B R-B6ch 47 KK P-N6 wns 41 P-B3 Interim aayss evdenty produced no cear-cut wn Whte was threateg R-Q5 d P-Bch
A Ba Rya
6
R-B7ch 42 RK6 K K-B4 eads to a orced draw o doubt Fscher csdered the sacrce 43 Rx here t ater 44 RxR KB4 R-QB8 K-K; R-QN3 Blac ca bably maage to draw bt ot more d o RB RQ Blac mght real dr to a g et 4 N-N7ch t ot RxPch? K-K5 RQ8 K-B6; 46 RQ3ch NK6
d w.
4
45 R-Q4ch r K-B6 R-Q3ch 46 N-B5ch 47 R(6K4
K KN6 K-B6
reaeg to wth 47 R-B4ch K-K7 48 RB2ch Blac og beer tha the perpetu RB8ch 47 RB7ch K-R2 KN Draw
M E 8
notr Spsy Blnder Juy 27 1972 a ore o less eve poso Sasky overooks erely os e Exchange Ches bindness but oe sl ondes y eas vctory fo obb T
Fische
B
Enlish Openin 1 PQ4 PQ4 NQ3 2 NQ3 N3 3 N3 4 PKN3 PKN3 5 N2 N2 Moe aggressive PQ4 a once 6 Hee too 6 PQ4 i bette. PxP 7 PQ4 NxN 8 NxP 9 xN P-Q3
162
Sass
Ate Sky Bln
13
A we-own posion, generay raned eve n a simila e his mach wi Perosian Fische as Bac secued a quic aw 0 B-N5 A new dea but s vaue s not demonsaed by hs game 0 B-K3 Q-B4 11 PK4 RB and now 12 P-N3 mpossible becae of NxP 12 . Actuay wih he line hat ac adops Q-R4 seems more ca tha Fischer's move Q-R4 QRN 2 QR-B mpler is 12 QRB for then 13 BxP -N regains e Pawn wth a good game and 13 P-N3, RB2 is feeng KRB P-N3 P-QR3 4 Q-Q2 5 B-K3
164.
The ames
o ofen Ficher wait fr hi opponen o provide openn No ob he dd o expec one o oon 5 PQN4?? R Loe e Exhange or a Pawn. Ater he norm 1 he ame il appromaey even 6 BR7 Naturaly 6 P Spy reognze hi ae bu hee nohing a n o 7 B xB 8 BxP KQ
A Sky Blur
15
e eemery re o 20 NQ, QQ 21 NxPch NQ2?? hch he chmpo promply overloos preer sed her retre Wi 19 Q-K ere some lh ply h e shoud w he lo
NQ Of course QQ NPch 2 K-B 2 xQ KxN r 22 BxRP; 2 NB RN7 RR, BxR R-B2 d te lo ws RN8ch 24 B-B NB K-N2 e res sple, houh Bl does develop some sh ply n e Qsde P-QR BR8 PK o oresll PB d PK 2 PB P-B3 2 RK2
1
The s
Agn hetenng PK KK3 28 BN7 2 R()QB 30 BK2 Agn plnnng o be ho wth BNch
PR 3 RQ BR O 31 PQR 3 RN PR 33 BBch n ges 32 PB PP 3 PPch KK 33 KP 3 RNch BR BQ3ch oses ju w 4 R( )Q Depeon 35 RQc KK3 O 3 KK 3 BB3c, KK 37 RK2 te KK 36 RP RB Regns
G 9
T a aee T Didn Didn t R re h
ugust 1 1972 ecaue of he grueng characer of che ache boh pay re uuay gad when hey have a chance re e preen e he ony one o dae whch ended n a quck draw, when e eray wa nohng ef o pay r u dd no erve o eh Spaky, who had poponed he previou game becaue of ne
Spaky
BLK
Fcher
Queen�s Queen�s Gmbit Declined NK3 PQ 2 PQ P-K3 PQ 3 NK3 pe of hi igna vory n he r game Fcher h en carefuy avoded he wo-edged e he choe here P Une e abouey ure of hmef, ? e h and 1h game obby never pay he ame varaon 4 N3 ronger N bu Spaky un now hough he had a fuaon of ac repy 4 P 17
1
The mes
5 BPP NP 6 PK4 NN 7 PxN PP 8 PP So al a n h mah am SpasPoan whr rd a powrf aa a am on 8 BNh 9 BQ2 BxBh 10 QxB 0-0; 11 BB4 NB3 12 00 P-QN3 13 QRQ B-N2 14 KR-K RB and PQ5 wh a pow aa 8 N-B3 o plaab hoh rampd 8 B-K2 BQB4
PQN4
T Pae T Did Refes
169
n unepeted nnovaton whh fore a derale mpa Sne Ba ha e mjoty of an o e Q-de he r to head for e endgame whe Whte' advantage e e mddl game ata 0 BQ3 oure not 10 BN QR4h 0 BNh B-Q2 BxBh 2 QB ow the N threatened 2 P-Q�3 3 -QR4 antanng the ntatve After 13 0-0 the QP reatened.
3 0-0 AI dynam reply whh on more ht at the Q 4 QB3 14 P N obvouy uavorable for Wht 4 BN2 oer dynam defene. 5 P 6 00 ntead 16 RR QR 17 B NR2 regan e awn th ong ntatve.
170
The mes
A good atenatie was 1 7 QR-
-N3 Q-N3
P-5 P5
18 Q-Q2 Contenting hmse wth a draw e ony wnnng chance was 1 P-Q5! when 1 ? as aganst 19 RQ, wng a pece In repy to P-Q5 Q is irtay orced There cod oow then 9 QQ2 P PP PP -2 -2 21 PQ6 not 21 QP QQ 22 22 RQ RQ BP BP and Q 23 Q wth a good atack. Bt here as at so many pons n he mach, passky a ecessie compcatos een when hey oe hm atta chances s is ndeed a sharp reersa of the tadona Russian stye 18 P Q 9 -Q2 Q-Q2 e poston s now a cear draw RQ 2 Q-3 22 R Initng ther smpicaon bt there s nothng e meanng
Pae T D' Refes 22 2 QxQ 2 RB
171
QxB RxQ PN
2 RN8c If he te to obe on e eenth an he nd Ba ahead : PR3, RR7 2 RB7 R()Q7. KN2 RxRc 27 PB3 RQ7 28 P-R ee eegance It doe not ae weter �e accept the ce or not. 28 P-R ere i no ure in 28 PxP 29 K and 0 K-R t t doe not oe eiter 29 PxP PxP Drawn
M E 1 0
Prav Prases Bbby 's Ingenity ugus 3 1972 From the begnnng t w ear at e oet had a take ths mt hen Bobb began h wnnng eak reorted t rather htan. After e th game ree four oet reorter n Ieand went home but wa tt to be roune" ne e ath w rea overed b the r· mter bak hoe Then wth good somnh e o began to rae Bobb ee onedng that ak ws nt qute u to h e hgh ont ame e 1 game w n an aarentl drawn oson Bobb ued a mang a ut o a hat Tru a magnnt oneon even though ould ea have ored a daw had he foreeen t ut the at h dd not whe Fher dd whh makes a ba g T
Fher
BLK
a
Ruy Loe P-K4 P-K4 NQB3 2 NKB3 P-QR3 3 BN5 BR4 For ome tme Bobb eermented w the Ehange V on 4 BxN nodung ome ngenou and auabe nna
172
Pada Paises Bbys geuiy
173
rd it in e sixte gam, oy to nd that Spsy was rpared for him NB BK2 0 PQN4 RK PQ3 7 BN3 0 8 B3 9 KR3
9 NN now has bcome a standard defns Th oldr line NQR4 0 BB2 PB4 11 PQ4, QB2 as analyed to ason forty years go and valatd as a daw Fische vr has great condence n e cotinato 12 PxKP Px NQ2 folowd by NBK3 ( or N3 ) hing at wea t sars i nmy posiion which is phaps why ssy a voided th ne 0 Q4 QNQ2 1 QNQ2 BN2 K BB i contined prssr against the White KP 13 PQN4 Following Rssan analysis agai srprising somewha more ar to Bobby tha to Bors. f Wht pts PQB4
174
The s
Bac equazes easly But f that s ee true, Bac shuld pay 12 PB4 at oce stea of 12 RK 13 B-KB NN 1 PQR4 Te aalss coue 4 P-B4; 1 NPP P € PP(4) PBP 17 P-K N4 wt uclear compc toug ite loos better ( BalasovPodgaets Moscow 7). 1 P-R QN-Q2 1 BN2 Aga amg at te KP f i repl 16 P-B4 17 P QPP; 18 PKP NP 19 NN RN; 20 PB4 R-K 21 S N-Q2 22 P-B4 wt a pwerfu attac 1 Q-N A geious efese reforcig hs K4 square irectl 17 R-N To buil up pressure o the QN le I later game K Resevs Chcago, 1973 te zecAmerca plae stroger move 17 PB4 NPP 18 BR4!
17 Acceptg the calege 18 NPP?
PB4?
Paa Pases Bbbys geuy
75
s o a focd simplcaion whic sold have dawn Mre ogical was 8 P-Q5 w evenal play on Ksde afe PP ( 8 P-B5 s no bee); 9 PP an lack e xemely cmped 8 QPP 9 P 9 PQ5, Q-B2 s weak 9 QNP 20 NN QN 2 P-QB4 Q-B5 22 BxN
9 PKP a his has been moe o less foced 22 QxB? ld have fced a daw Bu he had mch bee wih PxB I en 2 PP KR-Q 2 R-K2 PP and Blac B-QR3 nd i win, snce RP s refe by PB5, hreaenng -K3 given by some annoaors 2 PB6 and BQB4, is dsasos fo Whie gn er he psycolocal facor is decisive: Spassk cooses o reat ahe han sk aac 22 PxB; 2 P-N3 QR3 2 P-R4 QR-Q R-K2, Blac has a ne aack, whle Whe s reduced o a passive se
16
he me
PxP RQ tronger i 3 QR-Q or hen 2 PxP BxRP QQB6 i eiive Aer 2 QRQ; 2 QB Q NB3 PxP 6 B-R3 raw ih he Queen Rook J he oe no have the atak nleahe in e game QQB6 2 QB PxP; Heaing or the rap Even hee 2 6 RN6 or 6 RN3 P-B5 QQB6 raw eay enoug ine paky move o quiky here it i key tha he u hat Bobby ha mae a miake whh gave Bak wnnig hane He i oon o le how ong he wa 25 NB3 An now PxP raw immeatey 25 QxP?
2 BN3 ih eye rvete on he Qie Bobby uenly to te other wing an reve a poweu atak 2 PxP Obviou o the anger Beter wa 6 QB thoug N-N5 RQ; P5 Whte alreay ha muh the bee QB4
Pa Paie Bbbys Igeuiy
177
A marka f vnts Ar a ss dsutry psi a mvs ack has dfnd hmsf aganst a mang atac RQ2? ss h Exchag. Ovus ad sg was 2 P-5 P Px 2 P-3! 30 QN, QR3 3 R1 )N, RR2! ack can dfnd hmsf. 2 N5!
w hs s dcsv Q2 28 ack suddny as n dfs. f -Q3 2 xP 2 K-; 30 -6 ds c) ; N PxN R4 ma Ad if nw P5 2 xP P 30 NR
178
The s
QRQ Th i-btw mov that If rpy 29 RxR 0 BxPch K-R 31 -c Px 32 Q-R4 mat 2 9 R- I prr h ab to cacat prciy Af h atatv 29 QR-Q 30 BxPch 31 QxRch 32 xQ RxR 33 RxR BxP 34 5 BB7! 35 RQ8 B h ch harr for Wht to otrat tha a RxB 0 BxPch QxQ 3 QxRch 32 xQ BxP Atr 32 Kx RQ7ch K- RxB P5 th B Paw ca avac mor ay bt Whit l ha a Pa: PK5 a i PB PK PB 37 PK7 BxP 38 R ( )xB a Blac ha oin 37 RxB Kx
Pavda Pases Bobbys Igeuy
79
o ha he moke ceaed ie ha come out ih he ange o a Pannomay a nning adanag e ony no i hat Back to coeced paed Pan i quicky a dnge hich Whie pompy coche KB3 34 R-Q7ch inead 3 K-N; 35 R-N7 PN5; 36 P-N3 R-QB; 37 , RK 38 K-N2 i be decii B Rook i conned t e rank hch gie Whie he ime o hi hi King o ide 3 R-N7 RR8ch A eak moe i ime preue A beer chance a oered by ng he Rook on he home rank and ying o adance he P 35 P-N5; 36 PN R-B; 37 R-B K and mut i ok had or hi poin. BQ3h 36 K-R2 PN5 37 P-N3 ony chance. PR KN2 R-QB8; 39 R-N6, K-B R-R in eg 0 ; R-R5h KK5 ( or 1 P-N; 2 P-B 2 RK6 6 3 R(K6Bh K-Q6; BP RR 5 RR P-N7; 6 N5 K-B7; 7 PB ad Bak King doe no ge bck in me
180
The s
3 N6 R-Q8 40 -B3 Payng for a mang ne If 0 -B; P-Nch P 2 PPch B3 2 Q PB an Blac ug for f -B2 5 P-N5 B2 6 P-N6ch B RN7 4 -B2 The las ove befoe aoen PN oee ha bee chance 4 2
e eale ove Bac i euce o ang move. 4 R-Q 42 P-B P-N3 The Q-sie Pans aot avance PP PN 4 PP P-N Depeaton i B3 RN5 as in he game i he NP P-B5 B Hopng fo BQ5 an PB5 4 N5 Smple an ucen. The QNP mut go fo f 6 B- (o B-5) -Nch B 8 R( )- R-h R B -Q3 n hou in thout touble.
Pada Paes Bbby's Igeuiy 4 7 R(4)xP
181
KB3
ih Paw go i a ov 47 B-Q5 KK4 R6h opig or 4 R, KB a a om pay 49 K-B3 og h ra ma o h ov RQ 0 R RQ RQ3 R (4)7 RQ 2 R R6 h adva o h Paw ow o dr KQ4 3 BK4 4 RxP PB
82
The
I ow R-KB2; RQ8h KK3 57 R-K8 Bop K-Q5 R R Ant t rt o RQh B dfn
GA M E 1 1
b ecmes a Mrtal gan ugust 6 1972 blnc wih who mn hv comrd Bobby onc h f sn of succsss h dvlod h lin h was invicbl Som of h so mus hv hnd obby in hs m irst of h s vion id in h svnh m us owin hmslf o b sur d by d nlysis wis con h hd nv hs bfo h o in vous mts Thn h lys c ly ns todinly brilli nnovn sul s lost osiion in ftn movs
Sssy
B:
Sicilian Defee PK4 2 NKB3 P4 NP NB3 B-N5 7 PB4 8 l as in th svnh g
PB P3 PP NKB3 PR3 PK3 N3
183
sch
Te me
8 9 NN3
QxP QR6
1 BxN! Fst mpoement n e eae ame h payed instea BQ3, BK2 PR3, otainin a ost ame whc eentuay dew. 1 PxB 11 BK2 PKR? Oecondence eads hm to ceate moe weaknesses bt h onteatack s easiy eued and the weaknesses ema the natua NB3 2 ansposes to the ame s NQ2 and NB ut Backs psition e camped e n payed hee has een ted eoe wth uncea Spass's innovaon makes i seem quie possibe that ate B wea eeent move he s aeady ost 12 NB3 13 KR Pepai the combnaton 1 BQ2? whch he pompy oveooks 13 NR was ca o when s no cea how ite w oceed 14 N
Bbby Becs a Mal ga
18
PxN ( o 14
NxN Nxh 1 Nx x 16 B-B4 QB4 ough Blak's gae s ot eas t a eas sees paae.
NN an onepo o trap he Quee th so a pes QN7 QR4 R-B 16 N-R3 f o 14 Quee: 16 B4 17 K Q4 ( o 17 x 18 4 18 KR-QN h the oe ooks ke a prepaed vaao Spassk lae rads that he had found ove he od fat he thought r hr ues efoe htg upo I s eresg ha hs e he etea, alread see as e sas unosous ene should prove o e so poefu QN fer 14 QR 1 QK 000 16 QR3 s aea de se he ea eg aga o e Quee h NB. QK3
86
The e
Suddely Fischer s coroed he loss of hs Qee v PQR ad NB. PQ4? So desperae so soo! Back may el be os haee he but he goig o try he mgh as el do beter ha 15 NK possbe but s s he pecuar 5 so hat i he 6 PQR3 QR5; 7 NB3 QB. Alho game cramped ad deeoped he has sll ge up o s· al groud e.g. NQ5 BK NK2 PxP 7 PB4 No oy does he hod o to he matera but he aga rea to ap the Quee. NB4 7 PR5?? QQ3 A lcoceed proect which mmediately refuted. · sary was 18 QN3 9 NB3 000; 20 QRNL Bla taly has a bad posto the bu he s ot immediaely lo the game The tet hreates 9 . . NN6ch 20 PxN PxP dis ch; 2 K BB4ch bt tha hreat s easily met 9 BN4 NN6ch 20 PxN PxP ds ch; 2 R3 Crushg. Afte 19
Boy Becos a Moal Agai
87
Black has nothig An if 9
0-00 20 BxN, PxB 2 NB3 s to a satea hopeless position fo Bla NQ3 20 QN-Q2
ith simpe eveoping moves White ineases the pesse PB4 PxP 2 QRh, B2; 22 BxBh, xB If instea 20 P an Bla s efenseless But Bobs mve is even wose 21 PQR3 QN3 s gae now falls apat. Bt on 2 QR5; 22 BB3 RBl 2 R- B-2 2 P, PxP PB5 Blas gae is aso 22 P-B5 n obvios she At this point Sheb Lman on New Yo's annel 3 as so abbegaste that he expsse the opnion st have been some eo n tansmision of the oves QN4 22 Q-QB3
188
The me
Aag he Rk Knigh and aga hreatenng t win Qeen wth PR PxB Ayne ele igh well hae reigned again Spaky; wat a few me 2 PR S ha 2 QK; QRK and he Qee i g PR6 2 Mre dperan e re ilene PxQ PxPh 2 R-R6 Z QB6 B Wih e vage idea a ealy nter BB P-B6 29 QPxP BPxP 0 KR-K
Bobby Becos a Moa Agai
189
B-K2 RKP Re y feeln abut thi am a bet cntaind n teeam t t Bobby that eenn nt hoe aund. Play fo a daw and e mch you
ME 12.
Bbby Plays It ats ugus 8 1972 so o Fschs py i his gm is i mkd co o his ohod hor A his oss i h pious hs nds oucd h h would m." H usu compis wih h ch commi his im ou r codiong which ws und o, so h oh p irly swd i ou Bu on h ord h ws cuious o m A unusu ( him Quns Gmi, h ws cd ih su Bcks 1 mo pyng i cicumspc wy, smd mos su o sul nd so did Boy kp o plyng or mos r h drw ws c prhps o d h myh h h nr pys or dw T
Fsch
BK:
Sps
Queens Gmit Declined (y trnspositio) PQB Wh h ry h srogr 1 2 NKB3 3 PQ 4 NB3 BN5
190
PK3 PK? PQ NKB3 BK2 PK3
191
By Pys I Cai
onger QN-Q2, bu neer maer ha aen avan o the hane o reply B-B4. B-R4 00 7 PK QNQ 8 RB B3 9 BQ PxP 10 BxP
o ar l wellanalye boo. Here e ua reply 10 4 w appoprae equaly. 10 PQN4? antpotonal move o are that t an be onee novel e preen age Uually Bla avo h weaenng move ch an eave h w a bloe QBP 11 BQ PR3 o play P-B4 12 PR4 naral move, bt ne whh lea to mplato A an r me Bobby mgh have re the moe aggeve 12 00, BN2 14 NK wth a rong P-B4; 3 QB2 an en 3 tc. 12 13 NxP
PxP Q-R4
192 NQ NB Mor or l forcd
Th ams
BN PB4
Q-Q N-N If nd 16 QN a n Sthlbg-Cpblna, M 196 17 PxP NxP 18 NxN QxN 19 BxN bt for Wh PxP 7 00 18 Nx Th pudn ply. In owh poon g Blvn Mocow 197 I countd wh 18 Px, nd vntully bau of h Blc wn 8 B-N 9 B-K4 Purung h plcon on h lav 19 NK4, B 20 N-B6? BxN 1 RxB N-K4 oo ong 9 Q-N A n 10 g pprnly Spaky li h qu h Qun r 19 BxB 20 NxB BK 21 NB BN QR2 QBxN 2 NB6 QRB 22 BxB
193
Bbby Py I Ca
ht' o Biop ha litt maig i a oto o t d A daw m itab K-Q N 2 BB3 o good way o it to p up pu -K2 NB NxN xB ay ough 2 PQ 2 B x QB 2 Bx BB3 o utu 27 QB3 Q-3 B NN3 27
Q-R3
94
The mes
Bla now has omma o the open QB e t there that eher sie a o Bo manever now to see e fellw will me a misae Q-N4 28 PR n -B4 Whie an try 29 x Bx BK. BK2 Q-B 0 B-B Q-4 venty Spassy is ontent wth a raw a hs poin but Fsher hopes or an error 3 P B-K2 32 BK2 Q- ow he wans to maintan the pressre aganst the QP R-B 33 BR B-Q B4 Spassy is geg amious aray e repeto RB was aso qite goo enogh 3 QB Hng at the Roo R-B _ Bx x
• •
Bbby Pys I Cau
5
Whte eve appears t be n a ttle trble sie 37 B4? ter by 37 PR5 37 R-B yna reply 37 QxP?; 3 RxB! RxR 3 8h ad ates 37 RQ has ree the Bishop 8 BQB4 38 B-B7? als agaist 38 RxB whh he ate a. 38 QQ7 39 RB
B-N5 Oe ve bee adjet so he dest at to y ayg Bt 3 BQ3? RQ! s to tog. B-B7 RQ2 1 QB6 A enag gestrewhh threate ng QB7 1 R-Q7 2 B-5 Bla ees t be njrig p se ea eplay R2 3 QR8h Bx 89
19
The mes
Or QN7 RQ. # QB B Fnaly Bac rally ses to have th bett of t an st ht for the draw
N bst. QK5 7 KN KN3 BR 8 RB 9 RQR BN5 0 RQB Apparently Fischer now is contnt w a draw 0 But thi e Spassy is not H threatens B. x xch 2 R-K Losi a aw, bt not the ae.
197
Bby Pys I Ca
2 3 Kx KK2 KxQ
wn e extr Pwn h n eng here
RxPh B5h QxQh Bx
AME 1 3
t te Haway Mark August 10 1972 Ate tweve gae e coe tood che 7 Spaky 5 o Spaky pot wa oet whch ght t be cone On he whoe che hd payed bete che He budee e t game el nto a pepaed vaaon the eeven and ed a wn n e eventh But Spaky had blndeed b the th x and eghth gae and ed a wn n h o It tl eemed poble though unlkey o the cha to pl even pte o vctoe nd h ead e kept up a pe ee o copan bout the pyng condon H potest e eee Loa Schd on Augut a qoted n T York Tis typca Sir I ost vigorousy potest th xcssv spcttor nois n t tody nd your filur to k popr cion bout i whn I m pind bout t to you d th fiur of t orgnzrs to svr rr coplins of ipropr plyng ndiions nd nss of spcors h Exbon H ws not dsgnd fr chss tch nd v it cousc trnt of th typ rquird fr such n v Hnc spc prcuons ost ncss on of whch rov of t s svn of h rows of s cosst o th stg spctors so os nd so nosy nd h cousics r so
18
A he Hafy Mak
199
I he hem opeig cdy wrppers d I he ts o
so w s ug ughig d so o s s ot sute o word hmpioship mh d I demd ou d the gzes te immedi to o sue d ee oreo o these dsgreu odios d ish me epor o wh s to e doe Yours y ( Sied) Boy isher
hmd ommeed ta t was us a omal letter by Bobby's ads. The match commttee refsed Fisches equest stat at to remove he rst seve rows of seas wold emnae e seats n the audtoru. They dd espond to s com t t e ha was beig ted to a kindergrte by sng spectors to see to t at chldre dd ot make too much se. Yt usual Bobys dscontet had o oceable eect o ame. The st mbat ter e hafway mark was a mou nt struggle whch aly eded a rather lucky w for by. LC: Fscher
passky
Alekhine's Defee 1 P-K4 N-KB e exclamatio mark s tere oy ecause ths s he rst me ever payed wold chpohp hstory that opeed deense It ao shows at Bobby s cog the e po of e twel ge by sdesteppg ay prepared ao It so happens however, tat passky does have a ovao against Alees Defese 2 PK5 N-Q4 P-Q3 3 PQ4 NKB
The s
The usual le here is 4 NQB3; PB4 NN3; 6 P ; 7 N-B3, BN5 wth appoxate eqality PKN3 Thows don a calenge by avodng the standard l� QB Pehaps he feaed soe ovelty aganst the noal 4 BQB4 te Black's chalengng fouh ove Wte sees to ha vaety of ways wc he can get the bette of t Pehaps smpest as 5 PB4 NN3; PxP PxP; 7 PKR3, BN2 8 B PKB3 9 B3 00 10 QQ2 th the speo poso NN3 BN3 BN2
A he Hafay Mak
201
7 QN-Q2?
Axios o keep hgs compicated. A mch stoge ie is 5, fo if the 7 00; 8 P-K6 d Backs game fas eg. PxP BPch KR; 10 P-KR4, PKR 11 fte 7 N-N5, PQ4 P-KB4 Wte's gae looks mc able 7 0-0 8 P-KR pee B-N5 Bt the moe is ot exacty ecessay sice afte 8 QK2, BN5 P-K6 Blac s agai a bad bd 9 PxP; 10 BxPch BxB; 11 QxBch K-R; 12 PKR4 1 N-N! BxP; 14 QN-B BB 15 PR a wis 8 PQR4 9 PQR4 e ad qite stog is P-R bt Spass s eage fo plicao 9 PxP 10 PxP NR On e moe oma 0 NB, coig e oigial idea Aehies Deese Whe is almos foced io the powe 11 0-0 He cao hold o to hs KB: i PB? NB4; 2 B-B2 ch, wit a stog game Ad 1 PK6 is ess eecte ow becase of BxP xB PxB 1 QK2, QQ4 11 NB4 12 Q-K2 at f ow 2 B-B4; 1 R-Q ad late N-Q4.
The s
202
2 QK A bold ide he plays to w he QP. But he coud have accompished e sme pose mor vely wh 12 BQ2 If the 13 NK4 ( or 1 RQ ) , N 14 RQ QK d he hods everythig, wie reting e ig thret of NxB Fishers py t a umber o pots throughout this game veys he mpressio t he doubedrng his oppoen t someg NK4 N(3)xP NxB BN
RK!?
A Hafay Mak
03
Sen o n ttck He c, however rein e Pwn ood me wit 15 B4 B; 6 x BB3; 17 RK ow 17 PN3 18 BN sves evethin 8 B6ch just s ut the text i etter) ice he was eger to w t is tre he no dout elt tht the ttck ws te most promisin nution 5 NN3 Leds to crmped deensive osion Preere seems PN4 which woud hve voided much o his ter cues. ter 15 PN4 6 N4 BxKP s plle le 16 PN3, NN3 7 BN5 s in the me) PR3; 18 4 B 9 NB5 PR5 d Blck hs enouh countep B Sssk hs eutiul ide, ut is o loses move Better s 6 BN t oce PR5 17 BN5 e ide: to oce the Bck een to st t K i order to otect the 17 PR3 18 BR4 B�B4? B ws more loicl with the Aai provoki him 8 et BN4 d NB5 9 PKN4! BK3 ot 9 BxN?; 0 xB nd Blck remins ve crmped ·B5 20 N4 Q-Q2 21
20
The s
Wh sms o hav workd u am cosao fr aw how o ou? 22 QRQ Smigy bst If 22 NB6ch xN 23 x BR 2 QP QxN Wh has o good ouato wth two s dow 22 KRK! A skfu dfs I w K6, xN; QxQ BxQ xh Bx; 2 RxQ N4 ad Bak a hod B4 Wh a sgly dagrous aw adva ha B5 23 BQ4! Makig t tough at vry ov. ow 2 B5 BxN B B4 ad Blak s ou of h woods NQB5 It must hav b vy frustag for Sassky to d o vrao at aohr adqua ths smgy ovrwh oso K6? s rfud by BxNch 2 QB
A Hlfy Mrk
205
2 Q-B3 S reachng r a srng cntnuatin Three the pssbites t have been cnsdered I PB5, N-B5; 26 Q-B r Q-B3, NxKP ) NxNP; 27 6 Nx; PxP, PxNP; 29 Q-B7ch, K-; 30 xN i here xP BxNch; 31 K-, xB; 32 Qx, Q-B and hite is threat d ith ate t ) 30 P6; 31 BxP, XB; 32 Qx P7 the passed Pan saves the day II 5 PK6 N-B; 6 Q-B2 r 26 Pch, BxP }, NxP; 27 (r 7 P-B5, Nx; 28 xN P-6} P-6; 28 PB5 7; 9 - 9 xN, P8Q; 30 xQ xch; 3 K2 BKch again it s ck h ates} PN3; 30 PxP, PxNP; 31 QB7ch, K-; -Q7, BxNch; 33 K-2, -KN and hds everyhing eg xP, -N2; B-B6, BxB; 36 xB, BxP; 37 N-K5, K2 P-6; 26 P-B BB3; 27 P-B5 III P-N3 PxP cnnued pressure ) PxP N-Q2 27 NxN, xN; P-K6, P 29 NxB, QxQ; 30 xQ PxN; 31 Q7 Whte regains his n th a prbabe dra PK3 ckin e pstn 2 K2 e advance P-B5 uld be e by KPxP; 27 PxP, PxI fr i n 28 BB6 BxB ( rced ) ; 29 PxB K-2; 30 x er 30 K7 -Nch Ba ge in), Qx; 31 QKN3 if 31
2
The mes
NxP QK7, QKN 32 NxP QxQch 33 NxQ KN a has paed a theats, hie st hodg o to h xtra Pa 2 NQ2 ac is defedg desperatey
z NQ3? serious mstae hih ifts the pessue est as 27 K xN 28 Rx and ac st has a v dicut game a 27 NN5 NxN QxN, Q3 29 Q, z Q Naturay y seizes hi pptunty NN5 If NK2, Q3 29 RKN PQN ac's atta is as sog as Whites 28 Q3 NQ6 The ateatve 29 NR3 PQN i n mprovement QxN xQ 0 PxQ 3 Px
A Hafay Mak
207
e oonents now ene on by f he most ult engme f te mth f of robemike sequenes 31 PB3 revent NK5, n weken Whites hol o the bl res Whle the move gives White hes the ltetive PR6; 32 PB4 BB3 33 RQR RR5; K5 PR7 B3 RR; RK2 is quite omite too 32 PN5 Sgest If inste 32 PB5 PKN4; 33 BN3 PR6 wth 2 RPP A ult eson but he hs ittle oie If 2 PB4 3 PP PB4 3 BN3 e is nog bette hee beuse he h to wth he QRP f NB4 PR n the Pwn is tb: NB? PN; 6 h RR 37 PR7 RQ RK7 n wins. 3 KB2 owng the Bshos of pposte oors but he h no oe 3 NK5h NN PN4 6 BN ng on the Ehnge sie If 36 KRQ 37
8
The s
RKB KK 8 RB4 K; 9 RR4, KB 40 RR poble coteplay 37 RKB o play RB4R4 wth at leat a draw ad poble reats
RR Obou ad trog I Whte accept the P wll evet go ad he edg wl be hopelely lot 8 BB poi pasy cotug wh great ge Blac ove hi KR alog he rak Whte agai co RB4KR4 8 PR 39 RB4 PR7
Hafay Mak
09
h on ov to go nthr sd has m to caat wth st prcson Bsds what h pad, thr ar to possb e
0 P-Q7, P-R8=Q 41 RxQ, RxR BxR ( f nst 4 R-KR4 4 PQ8=, RR8ch 44 KN R( 8 )xPch 45 KB RR7ch -K, R-R8ch 47 K- R(5)-R7ch 48 KK RK8ch 49 4 RB7ch K-N, R-N7ch 5 KB4 R-N5 at) KK KR4, ; KN, R-KB8 45 K5, R-K8 owd b K4 wth a as wn. 40 R-QR P-K4 41 BxP KRK 4 BB6 R-K7ch 4 R-N7ch KR4 K-K and shoud wn wthout uch Spass dos nd th bst dfns n prssurth ungs t whn out o tm prssur P-B4 BxP f nstad PxP 4 RQR, thratnng B R and RxP s 41 PB6 r 4 BxP th rsuln poston s qut rabl r t . B-Q4 P-Q oud h tr t tak advantag of th opportunit to r wth 41 PK4 ht pas 4 BxR! RxB (orcd ) R4 RQ RR7ch K-K 45 RN7 wth xcln cs
210
The mes
The doued posion It w genery tcipted Fscher woud wn hndly but pssky nds briint de 2 KN Ag thretenng RKR4 2 RR6ch e best If insted PK4?; 4 BxP KK 44 B RxB 45 RKR4 RQ RR PR8=Q 4 RxQ RxP; 4 Rh RQ; 49 RxRch K 50 RKN nd hite should PB vidently e ovet nlysts eed on e lne pyed gme thnking th Blck ws los fter the piece cptur insted 4 KB2 R(6)xP Q8=Q RxQ 45 BxR PK4 suddely hite's Rook hs nowhere o go R()R 4 RKR4 PK4 KK 5 RR After KN?; 46 RR8ch KB2 4 xR RxR 4 Q8=Q Blck s lost. KQ RKch 7 RxP Forced 7 RxPch KB2 RBch KK
A" Halfy ak 49 K-N? RR6c 0 R(5)xBc
211 KxP K-B3
er a series of force moves e posion a een clae ea Black a ree Pans for e Bisop u e are ro passe Pans On e oer an Wies Rook are omnant posiion e oucome s s unclear KN2 R-Q6c ang for a in 2 R-Q7c e Black maing reas o not gve im ime o r s on 52 R-K6, for Black can repl 52 R-R6 and 53 R-Q7c, KBl 54 RKR7?, P-R8=Qc an maes on e ang move 52 BR Black can counter 52 ! since ater RxR (or 53 RQ7c K-3), KxR; 54 ·6c, K-R4 RxP, RR7 decsve fer 52 B-R, RR3; 5 RQ7c, KN3 e vartions ecome ia 2 KR3 3 R(7-Q2 RxR KxR o erent is RxR KN3; 55 BR, P-N5. P-N5
212
The
fer the pcato Whte ha to ry hard o hod he Paw aaache PR4! Igeou he wi qy orce a pased Paw of hi o N4 PR5 gat pae pay t i hopee, eg 56 B2 PQB5 N2 PB6ch 58 B2, RR6 PQB5! Threatenng PBch ad PR8Q fter 5 P PBh B2, PR=Q 59 RxQ PR, RR8 he ce 60 B5? 6 BxP ) 6 PR8Q, RxQ 62 R B5 wh a eay w PxP 7 RQR 8 PN6 PB6ch; Obtainig oe couerchaces If ow Q3! ad Back d i hard o go rther PR5 8 9 PN
A Hafay Mak
213
mt he gretted mog hs Bshop w fom the log on, but o 59 BxP RKN RxP, ; 61 RR8 PB6ch; B2, RN7ch KQ3 o KB, KB5) PB7 RQB8 PN6 Blcs Pws push though PR6 9 RK 0 BK7 PR7 BB8
A most extrordy poson. he Blc Pws re so stog ey more th me up or the botd Roo 2 KB2 cot te the QRP becuse e KRP Ques KB 2 3 RQ
214
The mes
o peven h om cossng ove o he Ksde P6ch 4 K3 mkes no et deence whe he goes hte m e dw by keepng the ck Kg o cossng ove
4 PKR8Q he best chnce othese he contes RQ6ch RQ. xQ K-Q4 K2 eesy. P
A Hafy Mak
215
good y bu he laks a empo R-Qh -5 8 RQ eateig o ake e Paw wih hek 8 -Q6
9 RQh?? a daw i his had passky sbles Coet was 69 h -Q5 70 R Ph ( o 5 71 R3); 1 R P7 72 Ph 6J 7 R 7 7 R-R ' Q7, -Rh with a daw ak does o e e foed daw he a sll lose -7 9 P6 70 Q
216
The
71 B-B5 Depeo On 7 xP PB7 w 7 RKch K 73 RK6 PB8= Q 71 R Eqully eectve w 71 PB7 72 BxP, KxB; 73 Rx R 74 RQR4 RN8 RQ 72 RxP RQ8 If ow 7 BQ4 ehe 7 Theeng R o 7 PB7 wns 73 RKch KB8 74 BQ4 O 4 RKB4, RQ7ch 74 B7
75 Regn Thee no defense f 75 RB4 RxB!; 76 RxR KK7; 77 RK4 KB6 75 xP, KxB foowed by RQ8 Despe e nccuce on both sde, hs s gme wothy of wold chmpohip mch.
AME 14.
On Pying fr a raw Ags 15 1972 lthogh chss s a thorca draw wh a sgh dg for t s by no mas asy o forc a draw n pracca play n fac, to rach a draw t s rs ncssary o a bs s, prodcng a poson whch s advantagos n as many scs as possb n h prsn gam Bobby appars o b playng for a draw h dos so a rahr soppy mannr Svra oboard vnts nvnd procdns a ths tm st of a passy postpond h gam for wo days for mdca ons Fschr, sspcg a ap no doubt dmandd to s hotosac copy of th physcans crca Whn h hard dagnoss rd, nab o play) h lodgd a pros, whch s promptly rjcd Thn Bobby hrand wth a aws hs rfsa to aow th gams to b lmd and vsd, d h match comm o dpos $,875 wh h U bassy h sm was half amot d o h osr Ths s was lkws rced by h Comm whch aso mad bc s own dmand that Fschr auoaph h n boards ch wr o b aucond o at h nd of h ach o fray nss Fnay, was anouncd by he n wspaprs ha sr had "forcd nw rs on e FDE tha n th cham ohp mach rs o w sx gams, draw o conng,
27
218
The Gs
wod be decared the vctor hs change w voted b DE n e fl of 192
Fscher
B
Spass
Queen's Gmbit Declined (by trnspsitin 1 PQB4 Cnsstent stang awa ro hs favote 1 PK4 1 PK3 PQ4 2 NKB3 3 PQ4 NKB3 BK2 4 NB3 Wh Spassk kep on pang s te defense wh o few counerchances s aso not cear Bo sdes appear cas
BB4 wea connuaon whch fals to peent the reen PB4 Snce he dd so we wth BN n other gaes t s a a ste wh he avoded he ove hee PB4 PK3 Naua 7 PxBP NB3
Pyg f a Da
219
8 PxP PxP 9 B-K2 BxP 10 BK3 he game has ued into a reversed Queens Gabt Accepte. ck has fu quality 11 RB reatening NxP uncoverng on e Bshop -B 11
A naura sacrice 12 PQ3 iscer avids e complcao If 2 NxP xN 13 QxQ xQ NxB 15 PxN NQ5! 16 -K5 xB 17 N B5 winnng e Exchange 12 P-KR3 1 B-N3? Senseless dawdlng wich· drifts no a s gae. Te normal sona connatn s 13 NQN, ccpy Q 1 B-N3 14 NK5 Now on 1 N-QN5 Back can repy NK5. 14 N-K2 Hopng fr continue compicatons
0
The Gme
K5 15 R BxR 1 RxR 17 KB3 To renorce Q He already e carefl: 1 xB QN; 18 QQ QxQ 19 PxQ, KB 0 RQ PK wt con pere to proaly o eo to w.
17 BQ2 To ore te excane and plae Qee a favoa poo 18 B-K5 Afer 18 xB Qx 19 QQ, QxQ 20 xQ, RB Blak c ad o te QB le can b a prole 18 B 19 QxB QB3 20 BKB? Anoer onte ove One wod rater ave expec B-Q 20 QB3!
O Pyig fo a Da
221
p om e QP, Spssky s noer, even more ominos et: 21 P; 22 B3, PKR 21 BQ?? t d ost been orgotten tt iscer oo c mke o t blnders oe t i is gin n edge move Howeve, te posion ws edy bd or Wie 21 PQ ; B3, PKR; P5 PR5 BxP, PxB; 25 Px, P Bck s mc te bette of i 21 QxP f corse! 22 B B6! innng Pwn. Bobby probbly ovelooked ts move Q Tere is no oer move wit e Qeen QxQ 23 PxB 24 PQ Spsky is now elty Pwn to e good, nd everybody cted ick victory BK5 To occpy te QB e: e cnnot ply RB? once becse f K7c 2 5 RB RB Z Q
222
The Gme
27 3 Spassy counters scers buder wit one of is ow easiest way to wi was 27 NxN; 28 xN K 29 x 30 K PQ 28 x Regaiing e a for 28 x 29 NxN and e Q is pined. &N x Nx RN 30 xN
Wit even matea te gae s a smpe daw Appae neiter master was wiing to oer t e res te itees
O Pyg fo a Da
223
RxP RxP
31 KB 32 3 RR6 Aan eann e Pawn 3 34 RxPc RQ7 36 KK2 7 KK 38 KQ 9 R-KN7 4 RQ7
-B2 B PR P-N R-K5c K B Dawn
AME 15
repared Vartis August 17 1972 Ahough boh de had a eua mount of me to pep Spy eem o have come aong wh moe openg n on han h opponent. Here, n anoher Scan, he agan omethng new Bobby gve up a Pawn for a ueonabe at But a o ofen n h match Spay outpayed n the md game Afer a wd meee n whch Bobby n tun me a a draw by pepetua check reu Two nteretng anouncemen apa fom Bobby' now v tuay andad compan about he payng condon, peced th game One a ha IBM had underwrtten he produc and broadcat chage for he remander of WNET Channe broadcat of he gae. The ft was repoted o amoun o $10000 a wee WNET ad hat t coud now oer he ga payed on Sunday o he natonwde Pubc Broadcang Servc networ of 03 aon And Cheter Fox anounced that he h ed ut agant Fcher o $1750000 for aeged breach o h contract gvng Fox m rgh
Spa
BC
Sicilin Defense 1 PK Bobby pers
PQB4
Fh
Preped Vr
P-Q3 2 N-K3 PxP 3 P-Q4 4 NP NK3 PQR3 5 N-Q3 an e Najd Varatn 6 -N P-K3 7 PB4 W e ty e captue e "pned Pawn agan, wc d uc dsatru nseuence n te eevent g e? 7 B-K2 , avd t If Fce a und a eutatn f Spaky e, e avng t r ane ccan. 8 Q-3 QB tandad varatn w a been payed unded e w vary? 9 0-00 QNQ 10 BQ3 Sl bk In a gae TaFce Zuc 99, Ta tred 0 3 ee ( wc Spaky pay ate}. Bbby eped 0 3; B-R4, R-KN 2 B-K2 PKN4; 3 PxP N-K4, w wld pca wc eventuay euted n a draw PN4 1 11 KR-K t 11 P-K? B-N2
226
The Gme
11 BN2 Attempts to mprove pon Black's play ave not succed So or te present at least it looks as oug Blacks line e completely refted Wite now seveal lines at dsposal 2 PKN follo by BxN PN and PB as Fscer imsel as success played on severa occasons, ad te complex sacice 2 N Spsky takes a simpler tack 12 QN3 A blliat nnovao wc seems to destoy te Black dee W Fscer ty ts line agan ar te pesent game? 12 Preparng to sacrice a Paw instead NB4; 3 PK PxP; 4 PxP NxBc; xN, N I. 2 6 BxB, QxB; 7 QxP and wins P3 3 BxN BxB ( 3 NxB; 4 Qx) 14 II 2 BxP PxB; N(4}xNP, Q-B3 6 NxPc, KB; 7 PK, B 8 P-B maitans te atack eg. 8 xP; 9 NxP KxN; 2 PK6c III. 2 PN; 3 NQ PxN; 4 PxP wit a powe attack eg 4 K-Q; NB, BKB; 6 QK3, KB 7 Q-K8c, QQ; 8 QxP BxP; 9 QxQB NxQ; 2 BxQ KxB; BK4 N ( 4 }N3; 22 Bx, NxB; 23 NxQP wit a winnig endga Fscers reply may well be te best cance 13 BxN
Peed V
227
13 NxB he alteatves n lk prmsng I BxB 4 B, PxB; 5 N)xNP QN 6 NxPh KN P-K5 BK2; xP an Whte mes ut w e sustanal vantage f an fur Pas fr tw pees II PxB 4 QN7 5 NxKP, PxN 6 QxB an Bla has mh less satn than n the game 14 QxP hs tme t s Spassy wh apture a "pse Pawn. 14 QRB 15 QN A prun retrea Afer 5 P-K5, KRN; 6 QR NN5 Blak mmeae unerplay 15 P-N5 16 -R KRN eferng pressure are y a freer game O the emp t regan a Pawn h 6 Q-R 7 P-N NR QB2 NxP fr QxN? BN Wte has BxP, BxB r 9 QxB 20 QxN an the Queen a n lnger e ne) 20 NB6 QB2; 2 NxBh QxN; 22 QxN an wns 17 QB2 NQ2
2
The Gme
I s ceay ot cear wat, ayg, Back as Paw 18 KN K-N O e atempt o rega e Paw w 1 NB4 would oow 20 NxN PxN 2 N-B3 QxP Q-K2, P 2 BR6 QB2 2 NK w a oeemg posto. 19 PB3 Naral ad sog O te supercally more orceul 1 P-B4, PxP ep 20 R-QB NB4 2 RxP, B-KB3 Black s s ave kcg d ( 22 P-QN4, NxB ad PK, RxP). 19 NB4 20 BB2 Muc better a NxN, PxN 2 NB PB BB2 P; 2 PxP, K-R ad Black as attac possbles. PxP Now te attemp o ope les w NxN 2 BxN P s reued by 22 RQB, or 22 Q-R4 N-B6c B 2 BB, B-B P-K PxP RXBP ad Backs Kg s exp 21 NxBP BKB
Prered V
9
bby is adany relng on cunterpay ith his Bishops 22 P-KN ree he een 22 PKR png or se threas on e KN e I s a desperate hop t ors
PK5? A ceer oe hich ends up innng e Pan at the ee a rined King posion he ngenius Bobby has hever set Bors dcu ask eg 2 Q-K PR5 PKN Q-N th arious hrets eg -N BxN 26 PxB, N-R5 7 R-Q R-B and White has a srugge
230
The
nmuch the K-de advance i of little conequence et line a mply 2 RQ2 and if 2 PR; 2 K PxP; PxP RN; N(4)-K 2 B-K2 and no 27 QQ4 follo y play on e Qde hich hould in PxP B-KR 24 PxP BxP?; N{4)N5 PxN; P Avodg the ap 24 Q-N; 27 RxB and in
NB3 Oeng to retu the Pan for counterplay B QxB BxP; QxRP f Blac no replie 27 BxN; PxB KR2; then 29 Q-K5 al give White trong attac chance here N-K4 QxP i an adequate defene 25 RQ icher rightly prefer e attack 26 Rch On other move Black alo ha adequate counterpay RQN RQB R-N and RxR NKN5 BxP QxP
Prered
1
Q2 w Bobby bnnn o pay a cl a an Pawn w BxP or 29 PxB QxP B as 29 QxQc BxQ 30 K2 29 QxP? ayn r a wn Mor rc was 29 K8c Q 30 Q B Q2 31 K8c, w a raw 29 Bx 30 Px Q-3c Q- 81 KB 32 QR8c proc QBP 32 K2
22
The
A dramac cage as ccrred frm a cramped def psn Back as sddeny emerged wt a maing attack qesti nw i weter passky ca ld te draw 3 PQR4 Apparety mre spred by a bad psn tan by a g e pass nds a erc defese NQ6c? Nw Bbby begns t g asay. Te mst drect med was NxP BxN QxB treaeng e R Kgt and a pssble mate Best fr W te s 5 QK nstad QKB8 QR8c 6 KB2 QxR 7 QBc K QKB8c BB 9 QN4c KR tere s n perpet QR8c 6 KB2 QR7c 7 KB QQ7c 8 KN dagram)
8 RQ4 9 QKc QxQ 40 RxQ RxN 4 RxP RK RK2 KN ad Black sd wi te edgame eve t te Bsp s f e wrg cr by t excagng Rk e dagrammed psi te mst dct varati 8 BKc 9 RB QQ8c 40 KN2 R7c 4 KR QR8c 42 KN4 RN7c 4 KB5 RN4c KQ6 Rx RxR QxP 46 NxP PR4 47 NB PR5 NP QQc 49 KK6 QxN 50 KB5 QQ2 5 KB4 QQ7c 2 K
Pepaed Va
Q; 3 R-K4 and Wie draws by sifng is Rook £m KB4
R4. creasing ime pressure played a role in e players decisions e. 34 BxN RxB o QxN 3 KB2.
5 KB2 R-Q4? Appareny song u mees a ian refuaon Te ec ne was 3 RQ QK5 QxRPc� 37 K-B Rc; K-B2, Q-R7 39 KB Q-Q7c K-N RQ4 sill ing as e no o Blacks 33rd move 36 R-K4! Giving up a piece b saving e ge. f now RxN Q-Q4c Q-B4 ( 37 KN 3 R-R4 is a bi dangeous ) ; RxP Wie ree Pawns for e piece and sould draw R-Q 36 One ove oo lae QN Pinnig e Bisop 37 QKB4 Te bes Q-Q4c 38 KN3 9 K-R3
The s
Now e reaens RQN and Blac oo los aan 39 QQ7 To ae imsel by a perpeal e bes ecourse. 4 RQN ocin e perpeal bu ere s noin ber 4 QB8c 41 RN2 Te eaed moe Wie es o wn w 1 N3? QN8 2 B QR7c B5? e is ailed dow wi Q ae 41 QR8c 42 RR2 Tere is no aoidin e perpea wi 2 N3 QQ8 snce 3 B? Qc i obiouly bad 42 QB8 RN2 QR8c Draw Te beni nd e end were payed bilanly by Spass wile in e midde e collaped a requen perorance n ac
A M E 1 6 .
All Qet o te Fscer Frt August 20, 1972 The mst stng news m Iceand tday was that there was ny a chess game n prgress True enugh Bbby had wed hs sa prtest abt payng ndns t Dr. Ewe cmpan ng that the settng was nt stabe fr a wrd hampnshp ntest and takng a pt sht at Reree Lthar Schmd wh was urgd t d me an wrng hs hands psy. The Dtchman ejected the ptest sayng tat t as tsde e IDEs rs dtn. S pay went n ts s way W
scher
B
Spassky
Ruy Lopez: Exchnge Vrition 1 PK4 PK4 N San s tme! NB3 2 N-KB3 P-R3 3 BN5 4 BN Te Echnge Varatn e reent hstry f whch cse dented wth ser r a ng tme t was ed amst e svey by Emane Lasker wh handed t t pefectn. But ecept r Lasker t was nsdered at best a drawsh ne wth a ght advantage t Back bcas th tw Bshps
2
6
The s
ome seven o eht yeas ao Boby suddeny evved e ne th a nume o excn ne vaaons Athouh he succeeded amost a e me aanst to ooston he abandoned the ne a e yea ao thout any exanao assky must have eaed o ths ne and t be nte estn to see ho he countes QPxB 4
5 00 hs se an move s se's nnovaon n Laske day the standad ne as 5 PQ4 PxP 6 QxP (o 6 Nx PQB4 QxQ 7 NxQ BQ2 and Backs to Bshos moe than make up o hs aca Queensde an majo 5 PB e obem s that Back unke te has no ood an move Natuay 5 NB? 6 NxP NxP 7 QK2 oses at once On 5 BQ no 6 PQ4 oses Back anothe demma Q2 6 PxP 7 QxP th vao theats and 6 7 PxP BxP 8 NxB QxN 9 NB th a mu ee ame n hch Back has ost hs comeaton o the to Bshos ome oonents ted 5 BKN5 aanst sche o e to 6 PKR th 6 PKR4 te can hoeve counte th 7 PQ and 7 QQ2 8 NxP BxQ 9 NxQ Bx 0 NxB BxN RxB xN 12 BB4 th the bette endame
All Qu n he che on
237
6 PQ4 On the ltenve 6 PQ3 Q3 7 QNQ2 -3 c hlds t his t shps wi fee gme PxN; 7 Q-R5ch The sci 6 NxP? is refuted by 6 ! 6 N Me nukng is 6 PxP nd 7 QxP QxQ NxQ -Q2 wi stdd vrins. ut hte cntinus with 7 NxP d en 7 PQ4 N2 QxQ; 9 RxQ Q2 ( 9 3; 10 4 10 4 0-0-0 11 QN3 with ninued pes e 7 PxP The scicil ne 7 P3 PxP; PxP xN 9 Qx QxP 10 3 Q3 (nt 10 0-0-0? 11 RQ 11 QR3 mght cn eivbly be pybe but s t risy f scher t this pint QxQ 7 8 RxQ PxP Stngest. If ited xN 9 x PxP; 10 P-4 hie ndubles Pwn wih ne ge 9 RQ3 Mre lgicl ws 9 N5 nd 9 N3 10 QNQ2 ling -R4-N3. ut the whle vrn ws pyed s quickly y bo sides tht i must hve been pevusly pepred 9 Q3 N3 10 QN-Q2
238
The G
Back seems to ave a fee and ey game 11 NB4 eading fo ecangesnaa enog A bette ty see te moe ogica 11 PQN3 and 1 00 12 BN2 Q 13 PQN; 14 PB PB4; 15 NB and it s ite coice eg 15 PN5 16 NQ2 NQ2; 17 N3, B 18 NQ5 Peaps it a eye on e scoe, Fisce cooses te qiet e 11 P 12 N(4)P B ( 5 )N is is foced sice 12 BB 13 PN4! B3 1 K3 NB4 15 NN5 gains matea 13 NB 00 To cate on te Qside is ess favorabe 14 B3
All Qu n cr rn
9
There sees o be litle either side in is position as awn ajoriy on the Qside oers his only he bt i hardly ees ery reatening at this point QN4 14 15 4? noistet, sine it es a nneessa haes The ogial positionl oe was 15 NQ2 to hit at the Q sqare he general priniple in sh posiions eing at White shold ot be e rst oe his awns on e Qeens side True then la has 15 N3 1 NN3 NQ2; and 7 R3 R3 soe dic White Hene the best ine to o lidate rst w 1 R3 and i 1 N4; 4 1 6 xN x; 17 R leads to noing) ; 16 R 17 3)Q QR; 18 NQ2 d lac has noing 15 QRN To get to e seenth r 16 RQ Unonate neessiy 1 NQ4 x wins x 16 For 17 Rx, x; and e ate threat preen RxN R 17 RQ4
0
The Gme
Nw it lk thugh Black ha me cunterplay 18 NQ2! Hld eveything 18 NxN PB6? 19 NxN P Nthing beer preent ite if 18 20 RN Black de nt have enugh fr the piec d i 18 NB4 narally 19 NxP 19 RxN RK After 19 PB6 20 PxP! (nt 20 RxP? BN) , RK 1 PN3 Black ll ha nthing. Wih 19 BK4 20 RxP BxP he eem t have bet chance becaue f the cnnued mate threat. After 21 R(2) BQ!! ad the Bihp i imm Black ha the cute 21 frm capture Hweer White can play imply 22 PN3 and 22 BB 2 PB RxP 24 the ending i a clear dra PKN3 Relying n a dubi cmbinan Me crrect wa 20 R RK3 21 R(4)xP RxP 22 RQR4 reganing the Pawn with een game fr 22 PB4 imply 23 PKN3 � 21 R()B2 KB2 If at nce 21 RxP? 22 RxR PB6 Whte get ut with check Nw it ha becme a threat
AU Que he che on
22 K-N2
241
Threatenng the Back Rook wit KB3, but igorng e reply 22 RxP!? Trying or a win I instead BB3 K-B3, RK3 24 BxP; RQR4 wi at least a draw KB3 Of coue not RxR?, PB6 ad i RQ7ch KK3. PB6 2 He must ave cosidered e Exchage sacrice Bch KxR P-B6 but after RK2 ere is too tte com ensao KxR Not 24 Rx PxR(N7) RxP, RxBc 24 PxR: R-N4 25 RxQP ter 25 RxR; 26 BxR K-K3 27 PB4 B-Q3 28 PN4 the doubed Paw is of o real value to Back d a aw ca expected 2 RB2 BQ RQ4 Z RxP 28 BB4
The G
orc e excae There i e et or eiher de 28 RR5ch O 2 BxB BxB 29 xB P c the ed i a ea draw B3 RR6ch 30 4 RxRP BxB PxB 2 RxQP P RxP B3 RQ7 RR7ch B3 6 RR6ch 2 RR7 37 RQ 8 RR2 3 39 N2 R2 e poio ce he 34th move bee a wekow dr demoaed a eemear exook W Sp kee a pzzemet R3 B3
A Qu F F
41 R-Rh 42 RR R-R2 4 R-B2 RB7 R-B 47 R-B RR 49 R-B RR
A pce w ee
R-K3 -K3 P-R3
B KN4 KN4
P-N� P-R4 P-R4
R-KB3 RK3
R-KS K-R3 -R3
a o dacon f e eader o payn ou a he move e wer oao o
44
The Ge
reord em a bt anyone who wants to sto here ad go on o e next game has my bessig R4 51 R-R6 R-5h 5 R4 R- 53 R3 R-4 54 R4 55 R-N6 N -R3 56 R-N4 R- 57 RN6 RR8h 58 R3 RR8 59 N R-R5 R3 Drawn
GAME 17
Who's raz Now? Augus 22 192 The sensaon today was the Russian Ru ssian charg chargee at at the Aeic Aeicans ans ght be usng electrnic devices and cheic substances to aen Spsys playing ability Fischer guawed T Ne k Tis editorialized about e Russian alibi and the ce aders soleny proised rst to invesgate a charges by ectronics epert and second to eep e hal paolled at night prevent Aericans ro sipping in their secet agic as e ussians had chaged Lary Evans eported that Icelandic spe ia agent KR2 posing as a chess grandaste naed Bobby scher uciy puled a draw out o a posion tat was pobaby st
Spassy
BK
Fischer
Pic Defnse 1 P-K
What wll Bobby this e
PQ3 Already a supise is is an anposional, counterattacing ne, oe suitable when Blac is trng to win at any cost not hen he s content wth a daw P-K3 2 PQ 1
25
The s
Perhaps Bobby was smulated y the 16th match ga PeosanSpassy 19 which it was Spassky who epe mented wth a smar varaton. That game proceeded 1 P PKN3 PKN3 PK4, PK4, BN BN 3 NKB3 NKB3 omttng the PKB4 whch whch Sp 00 N sy pays here) PQ3 4 BK PK3 5 PB3 NQ 6 00 7 QNQ PN3 8 PQR4 PQR3 and lac scceeded in equa ng n spte o hs cramped positon But Petrosans strategy that game was obvously very tmid 3 NQB3 Whte s carefu about the opons that Bac has let open n the bod Pawns aac with 3 QB4 BN 4 PB4 QB i beratg for if 5 NKB3 PP 6 NP QN3 wth an mmedia counterattack 8
N-KB3
4 PB
This aggressive line is much more logca than the timd va tion etosian chose in the game cited above 4 BN 5 NB3
By transposion a positon has been reached in whch Ficher scoed a brant win wth the White pieces against Beno a 0-0 6 BQ3 New Yok 196364 That game connued 5
Ws Crzy No
27
N5 7 PR3, BxN 8 QxB, NB3 9 B3, P 10 QPxP PxP 1 PB5, PxP 12 QP ad wo hasomey 5 PB The eeg attept much stroger a Beko's 5 00 6 PxP To keep he es ree ad open However �ere 6 PQ5 s oer, sce e reeg 6 P3 s reed by 7 BN5ch 6 QR Threaeig N 7 BQ3 There i og beter here or 7 P, NP or 7 BNh BQ2 8 BBch, QNxB 9 P equay N 7 QxBP 8 Q2 00 Q-QR4 9 B3 Preservg a aggressve sace 9 QB trasposes to tadard variaos o the Sca Deese whch are oe too good or Bac 00
evauao o e on eveas tat te's pes are
better pace more commadi posos, whe Back must see compeatio n coutepay o e Qde ou
The G
o lea advaage a be demostrated for hte a shar g le i to be exeted Aga e quesio arises why did Fishe hoose sh a hallegg defese at ths ot? 10 B-N5 There s otherwise o ood lae for is Bisho Bak mg have bee oeed abou a evetual P-B5 shuttg out his Q Tis move sggesed by Kdstei, i a imrovemet o th moe oute 10 N-B3 11 P-KR3!, e.g 11 BQ 1 PR3 KR-B 13 Q-B B-K 1 P-B5 with strog ressur OlassoBeko, k aa Zee 1969 11 QR-Q Needless midity More orefl was 11 PKR3 BxN R QN-Q 13 B-Q ad Blak is sll a from eqality. 11 NB3 12 B-B Fshers favorite move te Slia Eah ma is ayig the ohers vaatio 12 NR!? Aother woedged move egeig his deveomet ad ms plai hs piees ("Pae a Kit o e rm ad your gam ook dm ) 1 N-Q was etay ore loga It ook as ough isher is uder a syhoogia omusio o halege his ooet evey oeivabe way 13 BN3? Aeg the halege, bu g materiaes He shoud have ted 13 RQ5, Q-B2 1 N-QN5 Q-Q; 15 PK5 wih es se But obviousy he udes the aag haes after the Paw sarie as bee fo hm I ay ae he ha a strog ay the w, whh he h o have to mata a hod o the e. 13 KBxN! Ca suh higs be? Bobby realy must be ot to prove a he a get away with ayhig 14 PxB QxBP 15 P-B5
W' Cazy No?
9
I exge or the Pw Whte hs two poweru Bishops f ow 1 PxP?; 16 PxP BxP; 17 NN; BN3 18 NxBP! BxN 19 xB x; Bxh KxB 21 QxNh w otiued t 15 NB Smple d seure There is a immedit thrt o NxP d i the B6 QBh lowed by NB6 16 PK3 A ler otutio o the ttk s o redy visble If 16 B6 KB; 17 QB NxP; 18 Q BxP d here is sill o sstory ompestio vibe Ater 16 B6 KB i 17 PK3 BxN; 18 PxB NQ wth mmedte outert BxN 16 ored 17 QxB 7 xB NK retes to te e oo wth hek
0
The me
Whte nw has nds f ptenal treats n e KB le, but Fscher i a resurceful defender Bth sdes had cnsumed a l f me here and tme pressure s als lmng n he hrz. NQR4 Q-K4 Peraps he was afrad f Mre natural sems 1 18 BR6 KR-B 19 BxPch but after 19 KxB 19 Q-N3 K-K Blac cmes u a rght Q-B 8 RQ3 The bes defense On the mre aggessve 18 QK4 Wht cntues wh 19 BQ5 fr en 19 P-K3 BQ4 ws e Queen After 19 BQ5 N-B3 s vtualy rced whe 0 BR6 eeps up he pressure 9 B-R6 NxB 20 BPxN Unavdable fr 0 BxR N-B4 regans he Exchange w a satsfact game QB4ch 2 K-R Sme antatrs have clamed that 1 RK3 ws here r hen 1 KRB PKN4 strms the Blac Kg But Blac s has a adequae reply n Q-K4! r f hen PN R-B and f BB4 QQ5 wh a adequate defense n b cases
W' Czy N?
51
Te noa repy no s 1 KRB; BN5, QK4 and t s hard to see how Whte can get ahead Scorese ths shoud certany have peased Fscher, so Spassky woud have searched or somethng ese but nong s apparent And, noted beore on the attempt to bud up an attack w PKN4 Back has QK4! or then PN5, RB7 wns or Back 21 QK4?? A totay unexpected sacrce of th· Exange with no apparent chess ratonae behnd t when e move appeared on the screen I was so surprsed that I thought t was a transmsson error), since other nes hte has at best a daw Fscher has payed the whoe game n a chaengng provoc ve manner Hs about the nose had reached such a ptch beore ths game that he had actuay booked passage home The tet s anoer provocation. He has n eect sad to Spassky I can spot you your seconds your preparaton and I can spot you a game I can spot you ten to teen mnutes on every game I can pay the weakest openngs around and get away th t And now I can spot you the Exchange 22 BxR RxB PxP RPX 24 RK3 R-B.1 2 QB4 Qx
2 More ogical is 26 Q
The Gmes
B7
No ha he smoke has ceaed, Whie remains ih a heo recal in, since he h he Echange or only a Pan I hoeer, an exremely dcul ending in hich o score poi Boh sides no maneer or adjo ent NQ2 Preents PK5 B here oo 2 B7 is more precise orcig a eakening on he Qside, since 27 PK5 is me NQ 2 B2 NK B8 K2 Black is reduced o passiiy he mus ai or Whie o reeal & possile inning lan I ould hoeer hae een mor logical o cenalize his King o Q2 (3)K reaening seize he QB £e NB3 Blocking him B K8 8 (KB2)K2 2 KN3 KN2 No 32 NQ5 33 B8ch
3
W' zy Nw?
3 R(BQ
RKB8
Boh sids ar jockyng m RK 4 RKB RKB8 35 R(BK PR3 6 RK3 A g uonary dvic gins advanc o QNP RQB3 RK8 RB4 RK8 A r ow 39 PK5 PxP RQ7 PK3 d Back QNP oson ( NR4 39 R(QB RR8 RB RK
4
The Gme
The joue position, which probby ept the pyes their secon up night 41 R(2)-B2 Whte now hs number of ieren possblities to consie 1 ) To force psse P on the KR le wth P-KN4 P KR4R5 2) To echnge the Blck Rook on hs rst rnk by K-B2 RKR8 R-Q2 RB3 n RK3 n RK 3 ) To scce the Rook for the Kngh t QB6 n get to psse Pwns on the Qse 4) To bring the Kng o the Q-sie n vnce hs Pn there eventully winng Pwn Of these vrous plns 2) n 4) seem the most plusible mos likey to le to victoy, though win s by no mens certn 41
P-KN4
Preventing the rst pn bu creting fuer wekness 42 RB At this point in o prlyss seems o hve set n upon Spssky n he repets moves pror to clrifying the pln he wil choose 42 R-K7 R()B2 R-K 4 R-B R-K7 R()-B2 Here Fischer jupe p n clle for the refeee ciming rw by epetion of the posion three tmes ( fter RK8) Schmi rue the gme w
_Ws Cazy No?
255
Spassky sat sud. I was uclar whthr h had acd taly prmtd th r-fod rpo o a m caus hs rl dos' hld th USSR or whr h smply ouht h posto cold o wo Fschr drw a smlar rp o w Posa h thrd am of hr 97 match
ME 18
Two De Flies, a Piece of Wood and a See-Saw Draw ugust 24 1972 To check ou he Russian charges tha Spassky ha been unu inuence by Aerican emica an eecronic ingenuiy te courteous Iceaners perrme elaborae tess on the ha an equipent Even gas chromaography was use o etein whether noious gases were being reease wch ha iereni eects on Russians an Americans The chairs in which the pa ers sat were raye o eermine Fischers pecuiar prerence or a chair which ha been own in rom he US The in gaion reeae two ea ies in one lghing ture an a knielke object in Spasskys chair. When ts chair was taken apart the knieke obect was reveae to be a woo er In the meanme some lght was she on this strange ncient by a corresponent r e Maria press agency INTERPLANE He epaine tha he ha sen a message o his home oc repeag what one Aerica ha jony sai ta Boris was Bobbytrappe e Russians inercepte ths message but mis rea it as boobytrappe namiiar with Aerican sag the nay eciphere the message an were aghast a its meaning Then ey intruce Geer to ever the proest The matter w nay ceare up ater an echane o veie treas on the hot ne beween the White House the remn an the Maran High Comman
6
7
Tw Ded es
In pite o the upercharged atophere the game poceeded accordig to the tandard rule o che pay Blac tried to uld up a attac against e eney Kg ut Ficher parried ully ad the Ruan could not rea rough though he med a good chance at one point In e adoed poon t looed a though Ficher would win, ut ow pay held e e ad oth de repecul of the oer ailii aeed to a draw n a tl complicated poitio I
Fiche
B
pay
Siciln Dfns PK4 PQB4 Aga a ician wi whch he had ecured uch a powerul poitio in e outh game 2 NKB3 P-Q3 8 NB3 PK4 Permitg NQB He decline the ivtaon PxP 4 PQ4 NB3 5 NxP PK 6 BKN PQR QQ2 To prevent NN at oe propriate poit Fiche hielf ha often played thi line with Blac with gd reul whi ay e why p adopted it 8 BQ2 A gmit d of lie Moe uua i 8 P3 to foce e Wite Bihop to declre itelf If e 9 BK NKN NxN PxN; BB BN2; 12 PKR3 PxB; 13 QxQch xQ 4 xch K 1 PxN BQ White ha a ette edgame ut ot eno
The G
o w Sysov-Bonik n ac gae 157) Snce Spass wans o wn e cooses a enerpsg b raer sky ine. 9 P-B B-K
N-B! Keeps Back a P-QN BxN PxB Soe eorecias ave recoene e Pawn sacrce 11 BxB; 1 QxP RR b afer 1 PK5 BK; 1 Q-Q2 Q-R; 15 KN BN5 1 N-Q ie as e beer of i Evienly Spassky a a e ex ine prepare 2 BQ oer ine for e B5 folowe by P-KN an B-R Since is is e sal connaon iscer prsng is sal caos procere of avoiing prepare variaons varies 2 Q-R K-N N5 Q-QB4 4 NK
Tw Ded Fe
Blacks pan is now clea to aack o the Quee's side without ctlg 15 PB5 e stanar counte-attack, which keeps Bl�cs pec ea tvely iobie. It also viuay ules out because of Q-R6. . QM It is stikig how Spassky body·pursues the_ attack without caing about his Kig To take the Paw of couse wou be fata 5 PP?; 6 PxP, BP; 7 BB QB; 8 N(2)-Q4 NxN; 9 NxN Q-Q2 2 KR-K K-Q; 2 QP with a oewhelmig poston fo White. 16 NB4 P-R5 17 R-QB
0
The Gs
Hoping to be abe to open p e position on the Qside. Sin Bla is nabe to castle any opening of e posion at is pon would be favoable to White 17 RQN Pepaing to cose the Qside I is not easy fo Blac to con nue the attack but moe logcal than e text was 7 B-Q and then 18 P-B3 B-R4! eg 9 PxNP QxNP 2 QxQ N 21 B-B4 K-K2 PxP ( if at once 22 N-Q4 Blc has 22 K4 PxP; PQR N-R3 and if now NQ4, N-B4, th mu the bette o it 18 P-B3 PN6 NPxP 9 QR4 KRQB gives Wht now 18 te play 19 PQR3 Foced 1 N-K4 Sll thee is no good way to bea He my eaten to wn P; 21 NB a Pa wi KRB
T Ded Fls
o bl soe ay along the KB e For Black to take e Pawn hee wol be anosonal: ater 0 PP; PP NB; NN QKBP 2 NQ4 QN; QRK KQ RB Whte has a the lay However Wte ha a bee lne n NQ4 wth theats aganst the Black 20 N5 If nstea KQ at once 1 NQ4 s too song. 21 BxN Vtaly oce, fo QK NPch PN PN7; RB Qx 4 RP an now 00 wth a song aac 21 Qx 22 QRK PK4 Now NQ4 s et by KQ Castlng by han" KR A wang ove at loses e, bt t not clea what he can o A bee ossbl sees 2 PN4 an evntally NR5 an PN5 RN4 Agan e Pa taboo 2 PP; PP BP NQ5 BK 6 NB KN 7 NQ4 an Blacks oson s tenabl eg 7 RN QB4
The G
NQ4 Combiaons galoe in this ascig middle game it ge his Kight to Q4 with a tempo RR4 25 NQ3 Tag the sg ot o PK4 ad protecg the KBP KB2 instead PK4; 26 NB3, PQ4; 27 N(B3)P, P NP is decisive 26 NN4 g peveg both 6 PK4 ( ecase o the hole at Q5) d 26 PQ4 ecse o 27 KPP BN BP, RP ad ow 29 RB pins the Black Qee 26 PR4 spisig deese Whte was sddely theatenig QR6 PN3 Sll maeveig o me 27 RB3 was moe aggessive 27 R-K4
Tw De Flie
263
a seegl bad posto Spassk deeds hmselfwth great geu e tex reae othg parca bu holds ope he possb of a eeg PQ4 RQN 2 NQ3 A bold sacrce 29 NxR? QPxN N$ 3 PxP xRP 32 Px P-N7ch ad ws for 33 K-N? s me b xPch Q-K2 Whch se efused. Now he does reate 30 NxR, sce oce he Quees are o lack does ot have the se couerpla
0 PxP?
RR4
The Gme
264
Appaenty nenced by te ce e decde t tae n cance. Bt 30 Qx wn wt tw man aatn: I 30 QxN(6) 3 Qx R-K; 32 x B-N4 NBc QxN; RB5. -K4; 3 N-N4 xN 32 x K-N2; 33 R-B II. 0 QN4; Qx R-K (34 BQ; 35 N-B6; N-Q5 BQ; 36 Nx, BxN ( 36 RK2 37 QB8); 37 QB, Rx; Qx BB3; 39 B6 and Back can egn. 30 x 31 RB2 ee wat pay w d bt ce b te dange 3 N-N4 wa necea g t ee Ba game -K4 1 2 N-KB5 O 32 N-B3 Q4 aga ng 32
3 RxB 34 x
BxN -Q4!
ced: 34 RxR x 35 Qx QxQ; 36 RxQ R-Q4 t ng.
4 QxQ? One te many ptn te matc wee pay, ate bat ategca maneveng me an eay tacca pp-
Two De e
265
tuty aga y a uecessay etea Cect was RQ whe t hd t d a gd defee f Whte 35 NN4 QxQ 36 RxQ, BxN; 3 BPxB, R( 4)xP ad suddey Whte cat ge ut f the mag et Ate NB (est) QxQ RxQ (4)xP; 3 RB, RQ8; 38 R(4) RxR 39 RxR RQ a te s lst Naualy e dagammed pst f at ce P? 35 NB4! QxQ, he etwee me 36 NRc ws 35 NN4 Gag a tl temp QQ2 35
6 RxRP? Olus the dage Cect was 36 QxP, w st ws f e 36 BxN 3 BPxB, RQ4 as e game 38 RxBP a w e Q squae s eed wle Whte heateg RB f hee RR? 3 RBch ad QxR BxN Q4 7 BPxB Nw thee ae pteay dageus theats s that Whte es t hae me f smethg else lke 38 R6 ( 3 RQch 38 RBch
66
The G
K 39 RR . O 38 QB4ch KN3 not 38 38 K QK4 Pnnng the Rook and allowng RR7 Bobby may hae ms calculated by thnng that ths poston was an ey wn 3 RQB Holds eeythng f now RxR K 41 RR8ch KB 4 RR RQ8ch wns RQ So s s foed, gng Black tme to get out K3 Whch he does
41 RR he last mstake whch naly lets hm o the hook Wth 41 RB5 he sll should wn fo then 41 RQ8; RxPch and Black has no good moe KR 43 QK3ch K QB3ch fte 41 RB5, RB3 s best, when Whte has 4 R5 B followed by the adance of the KRP 41 RQ s defense he pobably oelooked. Q6 n the ndng afte 4 RxQ RxQ; RQ6ch RB3 RxRch
Tw De Fle
7
45 RB, N2 Black ha at eat a draw becae of the
threat on the eghth ank e game wa adoed here and pa ealed 42 QB3 Anothe ne reply R-Q3 RB7 QR6 It prng that te doe not have a win here bt he doe not If PR4 QB7! (threatenng RQ8) ; P-R5 ( 45 QN4 P5 ) , QQ 46 PQ, RN 47 P-N7, P-B4 48 R-QB P5 and te may een loe if he play careey bt he ha the draw wi 49 R-5 5 RP R-N4
QB6! Anothe ngenio eply he keep open e poibty f RQ8 45 QR7 ated with the daw The wining ty of PR4 fail againt 45 P-5 P-R5, P6 and now Black ay well wn. Q-B3 QR6 It i too dangero to aow P-5 eg PR4, P-5;
The Gmes
47 RK7 R-Q 48 QxP ( 48 RN7ch QxR QxQ 49 RxQ R(B and te e mated Q-KB6 4 Q-B3 47 QR7 Dawn
M E 1 9
T Spe of Things to Come ugus 2 192 Those who have wondered wha Fischer wi pay e once he s champion are given a preview in game y once more auns his opponen subms o a seeingy irrisble aac and hen comes ou wi ying colors In spe of Bobby's in genuiy pss brillan aack should have carried e day bu agn he fers wi vicory n hs grasp s is he sixh draw in a rw; o hese pss op for we have won ve ( al bu e sixeenh), whch does no speak we for he level of play in a world championshp mach T
passky
BLC
Fischer
Alekhie' Defe NKB? 1 PK4 Again s risy deese reminiscen o e oody 1h game Before is mach Bobby had never dared play Aleine's Defense agas opgh opposon 2 PK5 NQ4 P 3 PQ4 4 NKB BN5 PKN o he 1 game Varying ro e dubous 4 269
270
The Gmes
but e e chose aso dubous A moe sold move 4 NQB3 5 BK2 PK3 6 00 BK2 PKR3
PP; 9 o at f now 7 BN; 8 BB NQB3 8 PB4; 9 BN PB; 0 PKB4 wth a stog attack. BR4 8 PB4 NN3 NB3 00 If he tes to fee hmself wth 9 PP 0 NP BB; QB, QP; 2 RQ QB4; 3 PR3 and Back emas vey camped BK3 passky seems to have all e bette of he openg; what wl Bobby do PQ4 anpostoa move yethe ges away wth t. But the altenave 0 NB3; PP PP; 2 PQN3, PQ4; 3 PB5, NQ2; 4 PR3 s ot patcuay aacve PB5 On PQN3, PP; 2 · PP, NB3 Back aeady theaes BN ad BB NBP
Te Shpe f Tngs
271
11 BxN Consstet 11 N(3Q2?; 12 PQN4 s obously bad And f 11 NB5 at once 12 BxN B 13 QR4 and the Pawn can saely be take 12 BxB He must have consdered 2 PxB, N(3Q2; 13 P4, PKN3, bu Whtes doubled Paw mpede hs own attack 12 NB5 1 PQN3 Playng or the aack If tead 13 BB PQN3 14 PQN3 NR4 15 PQN4 NB5; 16 PR3, PQR4; 17 RN, RPxP; 18 RPxP, PxP 19 NB3 Back s out o the wood. In a late game GellerHecht Budapes, 1973 Geler played 13 BB4, securng a better poston ater 13 . NB3; 14 PQN3 N ( 5R4; 15 QQ2 1 NxB 14 PxN PQN3 Leadng to a sharp sugge I ad 14 PQB3 15 PQN4 NQ2; 16 QR4, Whte h song pay on the Qsde 1 PK4 Sezng e opportuny to open e game The ove s more dynamc than 1 PQN4, PQR4; 15 PR3, RPxP; 16 RPxP RxR 17 QxR PxP; 1 NPxP BN4! wth counelay.
7
The Gs 5
PQB3
Afer hs logica move he ges no ouble Ye the alernae 15 . PxBP 16 KPxP KPxP 17 NxP PQB3 18 NBch QxN i risker, or afte 1 PQ5, QxP 0 PxP QB 1 QQ5 an Black sl canno evelop propely
NPxP PQN If now 1 PQR 17 PR3 RPxP; 18 RPxP, RxR 19 QxR, NPxP; 0 NPxP the Bac Qside s weak Howeve here too BN and 1 PxP KPxP; Blac ge ou a rght wih 0 QR, PB3 7 NPxP QR? robably overloong the reply 17 BN rs wa more precie e moe s agan one on he edge
8 NxP A brllian coup which naes a erce acica sruggle
BN
Now he comes o le an nds a ynamic defense. The Knght BPxN 19 PxP, N-Q (or was immne o captre: aer 18 19 PxP; 0 BxP ) ; PxP PxP 1 BxR, RxB QB3 s RKB; 2 QQB) Or here 18 oewhemng KPxN 19 PxP, QR3 0 PQ BN 1 QN3 and if NQ; PK6 s oo srong
Te Spe of Tings o o
23
9 B-R A tartlig move which meets with a diclt eftao whe oce moe Spa, with a w paccally cored, lets it lip ot of hi ger eaier alteave or White i ot to e od i thi poi o e et ty 19 Q-N3 KPN 2 PP, NR3 21 PP QRQ! wit may coterrea, eg 22 QRQ NP 2 PN, QPch K-R RR QKP ad Black ha mag eat to compeate fr the advaced White BP Ad if 19 QQ3 eqally 19 KPN 20 PP N-R3 21 PP QR-Q with coterplay, eg QK4, QQ 9 BPxN A coldlooded reply: itead 19 PN3?? 20 NB6, BN 21 PB ad the Bop i imme for 21 PB 22 QP KR R-B4 QQ 2 NQ2 24 RR4 NKBP Q-K QQ 26 R-KB, K-N2 R-N4 R-R4, P-KR3 R-Q! Q-K6ch K-R2 N-Q 2 R-Q3 QB8 RKN3 ad Black i till i a mag et BPch RB Bet I 20 KR 22 B, N-B3 23 BP ad White ha o Paw o hi pece i addio to hi powe atack 2 RR
The Gs
27
The attack ow eem oeheg or f 2 KR Q-R5ch KB 2 RBch or 2 BK6ch KR, 2 Q-B, KK2 2 RKB N-Q2 (or 2 NB QB7ch K-Q 26 QN or een 26 QK ) Q-B7ch KQ B6 ad Black i deeele 21 Q-Q7! The tartg rey Wte ow forced to a uderable echange of Quee whch break e back o the attackye 22 QQ Spaky mu hae been heartbroken o be uabe to nd ay ng better But Q-R5 QQch 2 KR2 Qch ad the We QR catured w check 22 BQ 23 QR-KB Bet ough 2 RB7 alo had to be codered he rea N-R e R-B8ch fooed by RKB a QR-KB8 So 2 BK6ch forced The could fow 2 RB6 N-N5 2 alo ucet, but ot o trog) 25 R ! RQ -K6 ad Whte n roube becae o he aed Back awn or 27 K-B R-Bch 28 K-K2? R-B7 mate N�
?
Te Sape of Tings o Co
275
Bu nw he bens g sy Wh he bvius RB7 ube Rs n he seven rnk he cu s hve wn The mn vins e I NxQP; R( )B7, BR3 ( er PxP 26 RxPch KB; 27 RxKRP KN; 28 R(B7)N7ch KB; 29 RN4 Whie emerges wih Rk n ur Pwns r pieces, n shu n wu ny ruble 29 PK6; 3 RR8ch KB; 3 xR PK7; 32 RK4 ) ; PN4 PN3 ( PxP; 27 PN5, NB6ch; 28 xN, PxR; 29 PxB, PxP; 30 PB6 n wins, eg 30 RN 3 RQ7, RN8ch; 32 KB2 RB; PB7 n RQch ) ; 27 RxQ n shu in R n w Pwns pus cmmn e seven rnk, r w pieces PxP; RxN, PK6; 26 RxP PK7 (here s n II 24 ing beer) ; 27 KB2, PxR=Qch; KQ, BK6; 29 RQ6 n e hree cnnece psse Pwn will be ecisive III 2 NQ (bes prxic); PxP, PxP; 26 RQ7 BK6; 27 KR, BxP; xQP Nw Whe s emp he he me vrin, hich ws him hl n b Pn E 28 NK3; 29 PB6 RQB; 30 RQ6 RK ; 3 PB7 n wins r 3 BxP; 32 RxN! PxP RQ7 Nw i is e r RB7 b eecve r er NxQP; 2 R( ) B7 NK3; 27 RP, RQB hs everyhng since 28 R(B7)K7? is me by BK6ch n 29 BxP, while n er mves Bck cn nsle BK6ch BxP 26 R Elimining he grees nger r i nw 27 R( )B, BKP hls everhing PK6 BK4 O curse n 27 BxP?; RQB7 28 RxQP
76
Te aes
w tee s ntng bette, 28 R(B7 smply RK an 29 RQ6 BxR PxB, RP s g eugh 28 RK RK ces te aw
3 RQ6 KB2 atay t RR; PxR BP 2 RK6 RxN RxR RB KB 3 RQ5 KK 34 RR5 PKR Whtes exta Paw as n meanng They cl have agee t a aw ee RR 35 KR2 36 PB6 RxBP Avdg the las tap 6 RRP; 7 RQB5 ns
Te ape of Tigs o Co
R3 K-3 B6c RB7ch
7 RR5 8 KN3 9 K-B3 4 KB2
Dwn
277
ME 0
T Seventh Draw ugust 9 197 Tody ge n whch neit�er ide hd ny rel winnng chnce the venth drw n row Mny coenttor ex preed rprie t ch t of event n Fcher tch t only how tht Bobby i cnny enogh to ply the bord reli clly rther thn try to lve p to the yth of the nvincible Supern which he h in p helped to crete Aprt fro the ply one portnt new te tody w tht the celndic goveent w going to inodce pecil bill t the next eeng of Prlent to exept bot plyer fro txe n Icelnd, in the fith tht oer goveent wi follow it But no indicton w vlble tht either the US or the USS.R would do nythng of the knd For the che wold even ore potnt w the nnoce ent tht cher hd greed to retrn tch wth Spky n one yer ubect to the provo t e wnner would ten ply the reglr tch for e title wth the chllenger eerging fro te eliintion contet n 175 Accordng to one repot thi w proptly dened by Fcher• l Fcher
B Spky
Acrding to laer epos, i he spng of 1973 Ls Vega oeed pe of $000 eu mach which Fiche declined deading ied pe o $1000 Apely e ex Fische Gabi edy play
78
T Seen Daw
279
Siciln Defee 1 P-4
PQB4 he thrd e roud for pssy w the c o preious mes ( ad 1 he mssed w NQB 2 NKB PxP 3 P-Q4 4 NxP N-B PQ 5 N-QB 6 BKN5 Ths ttack (oriny ow s the Rer ter the Rcher Ruer ) h rtuy repced the oder 6 NN Yet tht oder e ws cosdered so sro the 90s that few rsts msters etured forth th e a except aist wek oppostio Fsho e 6 PK 7 Q-Q2 he immeate deeopmet of he Bck K preets e formao P-B4 d QB s m the fteeth me for ow 7 PB? Q-N is too so P-QR 8 0 BQ2 B-K2 PB
0
Te Gs
BK2 Vng fom the eghteenth gme, even thogh he sho hve won t Tht contne 10 N-B PN4; 1 BN, vntge to te Bt B s now cos enogh to vo pevos pe nes 0-0 Pepng a eventu ttck on e Qse B-B He cnot p 11 BN? BB; 12 NN QBN; 1 QP ecuse of 1 QQ; 14 RQ, BN 15 PB BP But nw tht the potecte, BN ecomes posst n lteve to eep the compctos gong wth 11 N-B o 11 N-N, theten ng P-K5 une sute ccmstnces. Ths me Bo pls t sfe -R Dng hm to t Inee, 12 BN?, BB 1 NN, QBN; 4 QP?, QR4 15 PK5, KQ 16 QR, QQ; 1 PQ BK2 tes et Pwn s h wo nthng B-R4
NP? song move, whch smpes ncel Eceent n odn tonment chess t s spsg t he chooses sch lne when he s thee ponts ehn n mtch
Te Seven Draw
1
13 BxB Th is an altav in 13 QNxN BxB; 4 NxQ, ut aft 14 QN3 15 NN3, KRQ and BKB3 Blac uids up th kind of atack h is loong fo Bo is ight is no ao to t himsf fo such a connuao 1 NxQ NxKB 14 BxQ No 14 NxN 15 Bx, QB; 16 N, K4 17 Bx and h is a hathy awn ahad 1 NxN(3) KB 6
Af al th xchangs th gam xactl vn On would hav xpctd a uic daw h t oh sds lik h f of h pcs 7 KRQ KK2 NQR4 No xactly ad ut Boy now gi to dawdl manig lssy unl h dts into a slghtly info posion naal mv h was 18 N-K4 BK 18 RxR 9 NB5
2
Te Gs
And hr mor naral n w 2 RR Prhaps h ard 2 NR; 21 N5, BB3 whn 22 NK vrtualy orcd, u atr KQ3; 2 PQN ac has non RN opn or somn 21 RQ3 PQR; An mor naral ln 21 PQR and 21 PQN3 21 PQR PQN 22 RN3 Now h sddny has posss o countrpay, 2 P KR3?, PR5; 2 R3 NN5; KN, NQ and ack wns a Pawn
PR5 PQR3 acks Pawn oaon on th Qsd now shty supror RQ RB3 Spassky dos no hav anyn th's hopn PB3 NQ3 RN 26 R5 R3 y dos not show much nry mor ocal ln was 27 NN and i 27 KQ3; R3 NR; 29 NQ or 29 N5? s thn mt y PQN3 wth advanta to W
T Seven Draw
283
-N4 To eak o e Ksde KN3 K-Q3 Now Black has a slgly fee game, ough cod hadly e epected to agas a Fsche NB5 KN NK4ch KK2 3 NK RQ 32 N-Q3 R-Q5 N(4-B2 PR4 3 RB5 RQ4
RB3? Icompehensle, unless he s jus oyng w hs opponen e RR PR 36 NN focng oe chage, s ey eough te 36 K-Q3; 37 N BN 38 K-Q2 P-Q5 would lose o 39 K-Q3, KB4 NK4ch! BNh 4 KB, KB5; B5 ( KB5 s also good KB P-N3 ad he QP goes N-Q5 RQ2 6 RB7ch BR RRch 38 NK To peen N-B6 38 -K4
Te Ges 3 PxP 4 KQ 41 NQ
PxP BB
e adjoed poson Blac has some slht atve t a daw e expected fte 1 N-B6 NxN, PxN N-K3, BK3 ee sde ca mae any headway 41
K-Q3
B-K3 42 N-3 So Blac has not come ot of the tem adjoent analyss w ay clea-ct pan A daw cold have een aeed pon hee t they have to eep o pehaps wth a eye on the aey K-3 BB Setn a tap K-K?, B-N3ch wns a ece KB3 K-B3 K-3 O e moe aessve 5 KN Bla cotes w PK5 ad t has t et to th K-sde wth K anyhow KB K-Q3 K-K
Te Seven Draw
5
Gvng Bbby a chance t ty f a t N-B5ch, NxN 48 KxN b afte 48 K-Q4 49 NQ3 -K5 50 N-B4ch, KQ5; 51 KB6 B-K 52 KK, BB3 Nx, PK6; N-B4, BB6 Black shld n. 47 K-Q3 B-N3ch Apa fm ap, Black has n nng pla s a uc daw can be exected KB3 K-B4 N-Q3ch KQ3 Afte 49 BxN 50 KxB NB6; 51 K-4, Nx; 52 Kx, NB6ch 53 K-K4 Black st has nng snce hs ll sn fall eg N-Q; K-K5 N-B5ch; 55 NxN KxN; 56 K-B4, KQ5; 5 KN5 KK6; KxP K-B6; 59 K4 and Whe 5 NK KB3 5 K-Q2 K-B4 52 NQ3ch KQ3 N-K3 5 NK N-Q5 54 KB3 Dawn
M E 2 1
Grand Finau September 1 1972 In this ast game Spasky had to wn to have a chance to retain his title At rst he had the better of the openng, as so often. The a careess ve gave his wiy opoet a chace fo a dagerous couter-attack wch he roty seized The Russia could have drawn several ways, bt faced by the need to wn he etered po a dubiou sarice owards the end he ipy bludered i a draw osition bt by that time a draw to him was e eqivalet of a oss d so, after seve straight draws Bobby cinchd the tite with a victory. Sasky
BL Fcher
Siilian efense 1 P-K4
PQB4 Another Siciian: the seven in the atch 2 N-KB3 P3 PxP PQ4 N PQR3
2
and Fina
27
Te Pause Vaato ecetly ebapted e Taaov. Black pevets N-N5 ad peseves feedo of aco Te dawback that t pets e cap P-QB4. 5 NQB3? T deseves a queso ak ot because bad pe s but because sce e s ude a puls to w e ust coose oe aessve es They eeds PQB4 ee ad NKB3; 6 BQ3 I the sevet atc e sePeosa Bueos es 97 Bobby cotued 5 BQ3 ad afte 5 N-QB3; 6 NN NPN; 00, P-Q4 8 PQB4! pov upo ps's NQ2 w ad oy ed to a daw aast Peosa Bobby wo batly It woµd be tees to w w Bobby would ave poceeded ast s ow le 5 NQB3 6 BK3 NB3 P-Q4? 7 BQ3 ovao: e s· pepaed to accept te soated QP O e e oue 7 P-Q3; 8 00 BK2 9 B4 0-0 ack s oe dcut but payable ae P� P� Pay fo deveopet stead 8 N� 9 N( 4 N PN 0 B-Q2 ad Baks Paw stuctue s weak BQ3 9 0-0
Te Ges
10 NxN T ccetate e weak Q-side Paws but the tmig is p. Me csistet was 0 PKR3 00; RK, eve hee NxN, PxN 2 Q-B3, t be fwed by N-R4 10 PxN 11 BQ4 Te idea is f cuse t ccupy QB5 Bt NR4 at ce Q-B2 2 P-KR3 00; 3 B-QB5 N-Q2 ad White ust exchage
11 12 Q-B3
00 B-K3 B-N5 3 BxN ad Wite wis a
He avids e ap 2 piece 13 KR-K Athe stategic e, sice ths Rk ate t t be badly isplaced e ecautiay 3 PKR3 wd have eft me ateaves 13 P-B4 Played amst istatesy, s the we e w pbby pepaed by Bbby 14 BxN Leads t a deep ap A gd ateative was 4 B5 BxB 5 RxB P-Q5 6 NR4 P-B5 B-B ad Backs advaced Paws ae vey weak while Wtes -psi secue
and F 14
QxB
15 QxQ Now o coure ere nog etter
15 16 QR-Q
A mot remarkae poton Back Pawn are cattered and weak ut e two Bop exe o muc preure at Wte doe not ae me to coodate I e dd ae me a wth N-R PQN3 BK2-B3 e woud ae a rtuy wo endgame QRN 17 BK2 Ad uddeny Spaky wo may ae een congratuang me up to pont nd hme n tere troue e woe araton ook ke a great potona trap on Boy part ce at rt gt t doe not ook a Whte o ady o Butook aga and t ard to d a good moe 18 PQN3 Natuay not NxP BxN RxB BxPc ad 20 RxR On BP RxP Back' poon ovoy uperor 18 PB5 reateng BQ5 d Whte a no good deene
Te Ges
2
19 NP
A deperate acce yieding o paed Pawn for the E change on the Qsidnough to daw but not to . The ateves are I. 9 BB3 B-QN5 20 R-K3 PQ5. II 9 N-R4 BKB4 PQB3 R-Q2 BB PxP 2 PP, B-B7, with the avantage. 19 BN RxB BP PP rt Slghty moe accuate wa 20 21 KB R BP R-Q7 BxP The moe aggreive 2 R-K7 met by 2 RQBP o BPch K-B RR7 B-B4 RBP e eventh rank of le eal value to te QBP RK2 Hopig for ome play th the o paed Paw RR BxR
r
29
Q Sctcng h plan e game now a aly eay daw b nce Spa ee conraned to wn, al he le 6 PR4 R-Q7 R-R7 7 BB4 Prpely cauu Ater 27 RxP? 28 PR5 RR7 29 P-R6, K-B 3 PN4 RR5 3 PN5, hte e ndd have a wn endgame becaue the Paw are a advanced e text prevent any prgre KN3 Nw te can draw ealy enugh by movng h Kng back and orthbut he ha to y omehg 28 KB 9 KB3 KK2 e mut prevent the hte Kng om marchng n to he Qde 30 PKN4? It not cear how he expected to wn w h mve the only eect to gve Back an unexpected wnng chance 0 PB4 31 PxP P-B3 Now he ha a paed KRP
Te Gs
292
3 BN 3 K-N3 3 K-B3
-R3 KQ3
eeny vn p ope At le e cold ve ted B4 o t 34 KB4 35 N4c e oo RR 3 K-N2 K-K4 3 BK6 KB5 3 BQ7 een N4 RN R-N7 3 B-K6 9 BB4 To py -R5 39 R-7 c i poptly opped B-K6 -R4 ltly oe ccte 40 KN5 t once
a Fi
293
F hite now has an apparet raw wi K-R3 with two ma variaons . xBP; PR5 RR; 3 P-R6 ; K-R an Black cannot reak rogh 1 KN; PB3, KB5; B-B KxP( ); KR RRch; KN3, R-N; 6 P-R5 RQR ; PN RR5; BxP, xP; 9 B-Nch K-N; 5 B-B P-B; 5 PR, PB5c 52 KB2 an Black sl has a ght on his hans. Bt as R. Bye shwe in anaysis Chess e & Reew aer K-R3 Back can stil win with . xBP; 2 P-R5, PR5, e sarpest ne en eig 3 P-N, KN BQ5! RQ; BN7 R-Q6ch; K-N2 PR KB2 R-R6; PN5 P-R an ns 9 PN6 rete y 9 RxP ere Spass seae s move. The next ay he telephone in s resignaon nwiling to appear in perso t congratuate hs opponent Bobby at rst eane e resiaon i writng, en was persae that he ha ealy won a was now i act chapio n e ajoe son Spassky reportey seae BQ wich loses agait 1 KN5 PN PR5; 3 PR5 PR6ch; KN RR; K-R2 RKB te capturng e KBP Back has hite a ag net
